Well, Someone Had to Explain the Liar's Dice Scene In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Remember when a swashbuckling adventure movie stopped for a few minutes to play a dice game? And it was one of the best scenes of the whole movie? 'Cause I do.

Follow me and stuff:

Quick Links:
0:00 -- I Am Very Obsessed With This Scene
2:29 -- Tedious Props and Graphics
5:05 -- Round A: Bootstrap Bill, Three 2s
6:46 -- Round B: Davy Jones, Four 4s
8:26 -- Round C: William Turner, Four 5s
9:23 -- Round D: Bootstrap Bill, Six 3s
10:28 -- Round E: Davy Jones, Seven 5s
13:06 -- Round F: William Turner, Eight 5s
13:58 -- Round G: Bootstrap Bill, Twelve 5s
17:02 -- The Winning Move

Correction:
9:43 Roulette odds are actually 37:1, not 36:1

Sources:
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Math

[Flight_of_Icarus]

"I'm a dishonest man, and a dishonest man you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly, it's the honest ones you should look out for, because you never know when they'll do something... stupid." -Jack Sparrow

[jordansrhoads]

"This movie came out... 14 years ago???" Cuts to some of the best animation to date even by today's standards. God I miss when Disney cared.

[ceridwenaeradwr]

We play Liar's dice at family gatherings, and my cousins, my sister and I all regularly quote this scene throughout our games.
My favourite instance was when my sister was down to one dice while the others at the table all had 3 or more. It got to her turn, she knew she was screwed, so what did she say?
"Twelve fives. Call me a liar." In the most dramatic voice possible.

She was called out on it.

_THERE WERE TWELVE FUCKING FIVES ON THE TABLE_

[garpogods]

I'd just like to mention the symbolism of the dice rolls I'm sure a lot of people got.

Bootstrap Bill got low rolls, indicating weakness and low position on the ship.

His son, Will, got a couple bad rolls and three 5s. A bit of a bad spot, but potential if he plays it right.

Davy Jones, the devil himself, got a near perfect roll of four 5s. An extremely high roll for an extremely dangerous man.

[emilydivis]

What really cements Bill's plan is that Bill goes first, makes his bid, and turns to Jones and says, "It's your bid, Captain."

THAT RIGHT THERE. Bill didn't just insert himself into the game. He also took control of the turn order so he was directly after Will. And Jones fell for the trick because Bill established himself as a non-threat with that first bid, playing into Jones' overconfidence.

... Damn, I need to rewatch this movie.

[fencserx]

Pointing out that bootstrap interposed himself between Will and Jones was the “oh damn” moment of this analysis

[snubabubba]

Bill Nighy hated the way they had to shoot the character and most of the filming process for a CGI character and you absolutely cannot tell one bit. This might be his greatest performance ever. He was so good as Davy Jones.

[chrishei]

Still can't believe these amazing movies came out of a boat ride in Disney. Like they really could do anything and they got some fantastic minds together on these

[Tadicuslegion]

When you remember Bill Nighy had to do this in grey Pajamas covered in dots and his eyes and lips painted green. You're even more impressed at what an amazing performance he delivers as Davy Jones.

[Werewolf_Korra]

God, everyone compliments Gollum, but for as many moving parts as he has, Jones looks better than most of the Avatar monsters still.

[MadMagicianGaming]

To add to your last point. When Bootstrap makes his first bid, he makes a point to tell Jones "it's your turn captain". This completed his plan.

There's not really universal rules to which direction the turns go as far as I can tell, so had they gone clockwise, Will would have been screwed. But making sure that the turns went counterclockwise, made it so he could protect his son.

And, add to it, deciding to be the first one to go was what allowed him to set this up in the first place. It was a great move

[Danen]

One thing you missed when calculating the odds is that knowing what dice you rolled drastically changes the odds. You no longer count the odds from a blind chance.

[darko-man]

I also like the "welcome to the crew laddy", because in that moment Davy Jones knows that Bill "has to" call the bluff. His heart is gone, he does not think of love's power other than to cause pain, so to speak, so it does not occur to him that Bill would do anything other than protect himself from damnation other than call Will a liar.
But then Bill does not and it catches Jones by genuine surprise. Once again love is shown to be powerful, after it caused him so pain.
At least that's how I see that moment

[mariatag]

"Will Turner, seen here being a DORK"
That about sums him up tbh

[JokeCubed]

I loved this analysis, it's brilliant and speaks to the motivations of all the characters. Will knew he couldn't win and get away with the key, he had to steal it later, and Bootstrap was trying to protect his son, so neither of the Turner's was actually trying to win the game. If Davy Jones had realised that, the smart thing for him to do when Bootstrap bid twelve 5's would've been to up the bid to thirteen 5's, because it would essentially force Will to win, which he doesn't want to do. Davy Jones thought he was being cruel and merciless by calling Bootstrap a liar, but he was actually doing what both of his opponents wanted him to do.

[driftingdruid]

tbf in Bill's defense: being a pirate is a lot like being in a gang or mafia, you may not be able to leave until certain conditions are met, such as after you've helped earn loot. since Bill probably didn't do much to earn his keep on a pirate ship, by the time he got someone pregnant and had a son with her, and before the mutiny and being sent to Davy Jones' locker, he likely left Will in order to not have his son become involved in pirating at all. selflessness to a fault

[Jayschannelnow]

Davy Jones beard is the only bit of CGI that I have ever seen and been able to believe it without effort. It's BEAUTIFUL

[williamgoyette]

You say the odds on the dice rolling all ones is preposterous, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve rolled all ones on saves in warhammer.

[brianmonroe]

I played Red Dead Redemption prior to watching this movie and I understood exactly what was happening in this scene. Liars’ Dice is actually a fun game to play with a group of 3 or more people.

[Jgregoire]

Another big thing is when Jones called out the seven 5's, he was actually trying to bait Will into calling him a Liar!

Right before, due to Will's bet of four 5's, Jones deduced, like how Lord Ravenscraft described, that Will had at least 2-3 fives himself. So with his own fives, and knowing the odds how rare 7 or more fives would be on the table, the way Jones calls out seven 5's, the determined and confident inflection of his voice, Jones thought he had Will trapped completely. Jones was thinking Will, feeling trapped, would call Jones a Liar, and thus Will would lose.

But Will, being smarter than that, and realizing that only his dad could call him a Liar, put his faith in his dad to not call him out, and thus upped the bid to eight 5's.

Jones, not taking into account the love a father has for a son, assumed Bill would call Will out. Thats why he was like "welcome to the crew" line.

And thus the amazing plot twist with Bill's call of twelve 5's, putting the pressure back onto Jones. And Jones knows hes somewhat stuck too, hence Jones angry retort to Bill (which is not in this video, but you can watch the entire scene and see it) when Bill taunts him with the "call me a liar or up the bid", with Jones saying "And be called a liar myself", meaning Jones knows he HAS TO call Bill out. If he doesnt, and ups the bid, Will will immediately call Jones out, and Jones will lose.