A winning strategy for Farkle

If you Google Farkle’s story, you will find numerous theories about the origin of the game, all significantly different. But one thing we know for sure:

Farkle is older than the earth. First it was Farkle, then dirt.

Why do you think it has been around for so long? Probably because it’s fun. Farkle has the perfect combination of luck and skill to have accumulated great appeal with people around the world and remained popular for hundreds of years. If you’ve never played Farkle, you should give it a try.

Many Farkle enthusiasts insist that luck is far more important in determining a winner than any skill involved. This is true in a single game. But as more games are played, skill becomes more significant and luck less significant in determining the overall winner. If you sit down with 3 friends and play 12 games of Farkle, luck alone dictates that you will win around 3 games, and so will your friends. 3 times 4 equals 12.

However, if you use my winning strategy for Farkle (and assuming your friends don’t), you are more likely to win around 4 games rather than 3. No, it doesn’t mean that you will win every game, but over time, you will emerge as the best Farkle player in your group. Your friends will start calling you “Farkle’s Expert”, or “Mr. (or Mrs. OR Miss) Farkle” or “Farkle’s Guru.” Would it be cool or what?

My strategy assumes the following rules:

· It takes 500 points to be “on the board”.

10,000 points are needed to win.

· A five is worth 50 points.

· A one is worth 100 points.

Three ones are worth 300 points.

Three 2s are worth 200 points.

Three 3’s are worth 300 points.

Three 4s are worth 400 points.

Three 5’s are worth 500 points.

Three 6s are worth 600 points.

Any 4-of-a-kind is worth 1000 points.

Straight (1-2-3-4-5-6) is worth 1500 points.

Three pairs (2-2-3-3-4-4) is worth 1500 points.

Any 5 of a kind is worth 2000 points.

Triplets (2-2-2-3-3-3) are worth 2,500 points.

Any 6-of-a-kind is worth 3,000 points.

The strategy:

1. At the beginning of a game, when you are trying to get the necessary points to be “on the board”, stop rolling after you have the required points on the table, unless you can roll all 6 dice again. If you can roll all the dice again, that’s called “… and roll” and you should.

Example # 1: Throws 5-5-5-2-3-4

All three 5’s are worth 500 points. So you have enough to be “on the board.” So don’t roll the remaining 3 dice again. Just stop and take the 500 points.

Example # 2: Throws 1-2-3-4-5-6

You have a 1500 point straight to be able to stop and meet the “on the board” requirement. But since you can reroll all 6 dice, you should.

Now that you’ve met the “on the board” requirement, we can talk about the rest of the game.

2. If, after any turn, you discover that all six dice are worth points, so you can reroll all six dice if you wish, you must reroll the dice. This rule is especially difficult to adhere to when you’ve just thrown triplets or some other high-scoring combination and you’re thinking, ‘If I roll all six dice and get nothing (a Farkle, a chicken egg, the big zero, the old man’ bust-a-roo ‘), then I’ll lose all 2,500 points for my Triplet. Oh, God, I don’t think I could go on living if that happened. It would be devastating. It would put a hole in my self-esteem the size of the Belgian Congo. “

Nah. It is not too bad. You will pass (or “Farkle”) less than 10% of the time, which means that more than 90% of the time you will throw a few more points and improve your score.

3. So the big decision, the one you’ll have to make dozens of times in every Farkle game, is “Should I stop now or keep pitching?”

The exact answer to this question is very complicated. But we can simplify it and put it in terms that everyone can deal with. You only need two pieces of information: 1) how many dice am I considering rolling and 2) how many points would I have if I didn’t roll, that is, if I stopped now?

If you are thinking of launching:

6 dice.Just do it! Do not worry about that.

5 dice Stop at 2000 points or more. Otherwise, go ahead and launch.

4 dice Stop at 1000 points or more. Otherwise, go ahead and launch.

3 dice Stop at 500 points or more. Otherwise, go ahead and launch.

2 dice Stop at 400 points or more. Otherwise, go ahead and launch.

1 die Stop at 300 points or more. Otherwise, go ahead and launch.

4. Never have a 5 (worth 50 points) unless you have no other choice.

Example # 1: Throws 5-5-2-3-3-4

You can hold onto the two fives (with a total value of 100 points) and roll the remaining 4 dice. But it is better to have only one of the five (which is worth 50 points) and roll the remaining 5 dice.

Example # 2: Throws 1-5-5-2-3-3

Here’s just one (worth 100 points) and two out of five (worth 100 points combined). So you can save those three dice and roll the other three. But I would be making a mistake. The rules say that you must hold at least one die before you can continue your turn and roll again, so the correct strategy is to hold the only die and not the two fives. Then you would roll five dice.

5. When an opponent exceeds 8000 points, you should start thinking about playing a little more aggressively. Especially if your total is 5000 or less. When the difference between your score and the leader becomes greater than the difference between the leader and winning the game, it’s time to remove your gloves. Raise those totals in rule 3 above. Don’t stop at 400 points when you have 2 dice to roll. Keep throwing!

When my opponent is 1000 points away from winning the game, and I am way down at 5000 points, I don’t stop shooting until I get over 2000 points. Every once in a while, I get that big pitch that gets me back in the game.

Look at it this way, although it may seem dangerous to keep rolling when you have 700 or 800 points, especially if you are only rolling 2 dice, the alternative of stopping will do you no good! Adding 700 or 800 points to a pitiful score like 5000 is not going to change the outcome of the game … you are still going to lose! The only thing saving you now is a few big 4-digit spins.

So stop worrying and roll those dice! Shoot them fast and furious. Throw them away like there’s no tomorrow. Throw ’em like a drunken sailor.

As I mentioned at the beginning, this strategy will not guarantee a win in any particular game. But it will make sure you win more than your fair share in the games. Remember, your goal is to be known throughout your city as the “Queen Farkle” (or “King” as the case may be).