A method for playing a stand-alone and a bonus casino poker dice having X dice, each of the X dice having F faces with a different symbol thereon so as to form a set {S} of symbols on each of the X dice. The method of the present invention includes the steps of placing a wager; rolling the dice; holding none, any, or all of the rolled dice; ending the casino poker dice game when the dice are all held or when re-rolling occurs Y times; paying any winning combinations of symbols based on the placed wager and in response to the step of ending the game; re-rolling the non-held dice when less than all the X dice are held; and repeating various of these steps until the game ends. Variations on this basic method are set forth for stand-alone games, bonus games, used in conjunction with underlying gaming machines, and playing a bonus game of the present invention in parallel with an underlying game so that a number of hands are played.