The Liar's poker reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
(provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Liar's poker

For thoughtful child sponsors
Liar's Poker is a gambling game which combines statistical reasoning with bluffing.

Rules

  1. Each player takes out a random (US) bank note.
  2. Players agree on a stake.
  3. In turn each player "bids" by attempting to guess a combination of numbers (for example "three nines") that is found scattered among all of the serial numbers.
  4. Each player must make a "larger" bid (a bid that involves more numbers or the same amount but with higher number) than the previous player or issue a challenge.
  5. Once everyone agrees to challenge the notes are revealed. If the last bid is correct than the player who made the bid takes the stake. If not the player has to pay out the stake to the other players.

The Book

Liar's Poker is also the name of a book by Michael Lewis which tells of his time as a bond trader at Wall Street firm Salomon Brothers during the bond boom of the 1980s. The book takes its name from the game, which was popular with the traders.