Farkle Scoring Rules: The Standard Chart and House Rules

Farkle is a folk dice game, which is a polite way of saying there is no official rulebook. It has been played for generations under a dozen names — Ten Thousand, Dix Mille, Zilch, Hot Dice, Greed — and every family that plays it has quietly edited the scoring. Two tables can both be "playing Farkle" and disagree about whether three 1s are worth 300 or 1,000.

So this guide does two things. It sets out the most common modern scoring chart, which is a good default if your table has no rules of its own, and then it lists the variations explicitly, so you can pick yours before the first roll instead of in the middle of an argument.

How a turn works

You need six standard dice. The goal is to be the first to 10,000 points.

1. Roll all six dice.
2. Set aside at least one scoring die or combination from that roll.
3. Either bank the points you have built up this turn and pass the dice, or roll the remaining dice to try for more.
4. If a roll contains no scoring dice at all, that is a farkle: you lose every point built up this turn, and the dice pass on.

Two rules trip up new players:

• Combinations only count within a single roll. A 1 set aside on your first roll and two more 1s on your second roll are three separate 1s (300), not three of a kind (1,000).
• You do not have to keep every scoring die. From a roll of 1-1-5-2-3-6 you could keep just one 1 and roll five dice again, trading 150 points in hand for better odds on the next roll.

Hot dice

If every one of your six dice has scored — whether in one roll or across several — you have hot dice. You may pick all six up and keep rolling, adding to the same turn total. You can still farkle on the next roll and lose everything.

A common standard scoring chart

This is the chart found on many Farkle score pads and rule summaries. If you have no house rules yet, start here.

Dice that do not form part of a scoring combination — 2s, 3s, 4s and 6s on their own — score nothing.

Worked example: one turn

Roll 1 — six dice: 1, 1, 1, 5, 3, 4. Three 1s are 1,000 and the 5 is 50. Keep all four scoring dice: 1,050 this turn, two dice left.

Roll 2 — two dice: 5, 2. Keep the 5: 1,100, one die left.

Now the real decision. One die scores only on a 1 or a 5, so rolling it farkles two times in three. Banking 1,100 is the sensible play. This player rolls anyway.

Roll 3 — one die: 1. Another 100: 1,200. All six dice have now scored across the turn — hot dice — so all six can be rolled again.

Roll 4 — six dice: 2, 3, 4, 4, 6, 6. No 1s, no 5s, no three of a kind, only two pairs, no straight. Farkle. The turn scores 0, and the 1,200 is gone.

Had the player banked after roll 2, they would have 1,100 on the board.

How likely is a farkle?

Knowing the odds is most of the strategy. With the standard chart above (singles, three of a kind, three pairs and the straight all scoring):

Two dice is where the risk turns sharply against you, which is why many players bank with two or fewer dice left unless they are far behind. With six dice — including hot dice — you should almost always roll.

Ending the game

When a player banks a turn that takes them to 10,000 or more, every other player gets one last turn to beat that total. Highest score after the final round wins.

House rules and variations

These are the variations you will actually meet. Settle each one before you start — they change the score far more than any strategy does.

Worked example: why the "of a kind" rule matters

You roll 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 6 — five 2s.

• Fixed chart: five of a kind = 2,000
• Doubling: 200 → 400 → 800
• Additive: 200 + 200 + 200 = 600

Same dice, a 1,400-point swing. And under the fixed chart there is an oddity worth knowing: four 1s score 1,000, which is less than three 1s (1,000) plus a single 1 (100). Decide in advance whether a player may split the dice to score them the more valuable way.

Worked example: two triplets

You roll 3, 3, 3, 6, 6, 6.

• Two triplets rule: 2,500
• Without it: three 3s + three 6s = 300 + 600 = 900

Keeping score

Farkle score sheets are simple — one column per player and a row per banked turn — but they collect two recurring mistakes: a turn total added to the wrong column, and a farkle recorded as the points the player would have had. Write the banked total and the running total on every line, and have the roller call out the number before it goes down.

Fivebar has a Farkle sheet built around the core of the game — bank the turn or lose it, racing to ten thousand. It is part of the one-time unlock; the support page sets out exactly which sheets are free. Whatever you keep score on, agree the chart and the house rules above before the first roll, because that is where Farkle's rules actually live.

If your dice night also includes the five-dice category game with thirteen boxes and an upper-section bonus, Fivebar's Dice Sheet covers that one; for other scoring systems, see the rest of the game-night guides.

The short version

• Roll six dice, keep at least one scoring die each roll, bank or keep rolling.
• No scoring dice in a roll is a farkle: the turn's points are lost.
• Combinations only count within one roll. Score all six dice and you have hot dice.
• Common chart: 1 = 100, 5 = 50, three 1s = 1,000, three of anything else = face × 100, straight and three pairs 1,500.
• Every table has house rules. Agree on three 1s, four-of-a-kind scoring, straights and the opening minimum before the first roll.