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Rules of Farkle Dice Game

Farkle is a dice game of luck and daring (or foolhardiness, if you push your luck too far). Farkle's origins are unknown, but it's centuries old, passed from person to person through generations. Game makers have packaged Farkle at various times. The latest version, from Legendary Games, uses the name Farkel and modified rules that existed in several---perhaps countless---variations in several languages. People have learned this game as Zilch, Push Your Luck, 10,000 and other names.

Basic Play Procedure
- Farkle is best for groups, though two can play. In large groups, people can buddy up to make teams.
  
  Each player rolls six dice (in some variations, five), trying to score on consecutive rolls until he loses his nerve or wisdom prevails and he retires with the points accumulated. After each roll, the player removes at least one die worth points, then rolls the remaining dice.
  
  If all six dice have scored, a player can either retire with the points or pick up all the dice and keep rolling.
  
  A roll with no points ends the turn with nothing scored. This is called a Farkle.
  
  Play rotates to the left until a team or player reaches 10,000 points. At that point, a final round begins in which opponents make one last effort to earn points, each hoping to have the most points at the end to win.
  
  A popular Farkle variation allows a player to add the previous player's score to her score under certain conditions. If there were non-scoring dice left over on the previous turn, the next player can pick up them up and roll them. If she succeeds in scoring on these dice, she adds the score of the previous player to her own and keeps rolling, if she wants to. If she fails, her turn is over.
  
  With so many variations of Farkle around, all players should agree on the rules beforehand.
Basic Scoring
- The common scoring rules say that each 1 rolled scores 100 points, each 5 scores 50, three 1s scores 1,000, and all other threes-of-a-kind scoring 100 times the number rolled (for instance, three 6s scores 600 points). Additionally, a straight of all six dice earns 1,000 points. Dice count only when rolled at one time. Once you pick up and roll some of them again, you can't combine them with what you've already rolled.
Common Scoring Variations
- A common practice requires a minimum initial score. A player can't start recording points until she or her teammate can first post a score of 500 or more.
  
  Three pairs thrown in one roll is commonly scored as 500 points.
  
  Scoring fours-of-a-kind is also a common variation, usually earning double what a three-of-kind would.--600 instead of 300 for rolling four 3s, for example. Five-of-a-kind scores double what a four-of-a-kind would score and six-of-a-kind scores double what a five-of-a-kind would.

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