Island Living: The Games we Play 🎲

On island many bars and restaurants, but not all, have something we call a “shake”. A shake is a game played by patrons, prices vary depending where you are, but in most instances it’s about three dollars to play. After you pay your three dollars, you then get your chance to shake five dice, for three separate rolls, in a Yahtzee type container with the goal of rolling 5 of a kind, a “Yahtzee.” The goal is to be lucky enough to roll that five of a kind because by doing so you win the shake. The shake is the pool of money that accumulates over time from the three dollars each individual contributes to play.

Every so often, a shake will get to an extreme high and well, EVERYONE starts coming out of the woodwork. Places that are never busy on a Monday will have a steady flow of traffic not only on those days but all days until someone finally wins. People go places they’ve never been because word finally travels that far.

The energy when it happens is absolutely amazing, we are not the type of place where tensions will run too high over this sort of thing. It’s just genuine good fun, everyone in the place is paying attention to every shake. They are encouraging each other while maintaining the obviously necessary banter.

There are other variables to the shake. All independent to the specific place you find yourself playing a shake. Some places only allow one shaker per bartender, some per drink, some per day... currently we have a shake up to $4100 so you where I’ll be in a few hours. 😝🎲💵