Directions

• Play the game of Farkle
• On the green slide for each round either take a picture of your dice roll OR from the edges DRAG the red dice onto the game board.
• What is your STRATEGY for playing?
• In the strategy box explain if you’re going to roll or stop and why! Why did you keep the die you kept? Include mathematical justifications. Explain different possibilities and why you would or would not go with the better mathematical probability.
• DUPLICATE the green slide when you roll new dice.
• Update your strategy box
• Move the SCORE slide. Drag the score slide down as needed to utilize.

Scoring

• Roll 6 dice
• You must score points or your FARKLE and earn zero points for the entire round.
• Choose die or dice that score points.
• You may choose to roll remaining die, however if you do not score you FARKLE and the entire round ends with zero points.

DUPLICATE

Select the slide in the filmstrip and use Control D to duplicate the slide.

1

ROUND

The 4 4’s get me 400 + 400 points. I will keep those.

800 points should be enough but I like to live on the edge. I will roll the 5 and the 2 again.

While the 5 is worth 50 points I have a better probability of getting a 1 or a 5 on the next roll if roll 2 die instead of only one.

STRATEGY

On my second roll I got a 1 and a 2.

​

Whew! That is an extra 100 points

I will NOT roll again. The probability of a 1 or a 5 with one die is 2/6. Risky when I have 900 points on the line.

STRATEGY

800

100

900

900

2

ROUND

3 fives is 500 points

Another 5 is another 500 points for a total of 1000 points.

I will NOT roll the 2 and the 6 again because I already have 1000 points. It is risky to roll 2 dice. I would HOPE for 2 ones or 5’s but the probability of that is about 11%. I have a 52% chance of getting a 1 or a 5 but then I’m only adding 50 or 100 points to my score.

STRATEGY

800

100

900

900

1000

-

1000

1900

3

ROUND

I will only keep the 1. This is 100 points. I will not keep the 5’s because rolling 5 dice instead of 3 dices gives me a higher probability of getting 3 of a number.

STRATEGY

On my second roll I got one one. Good thing I had 5 dice I rolled… 4 dice were losers.

I am required to score at least 300 points so I have to roll again.

STRATEGY

FARKLED!

STRATEGY

800

100

900

900

1000

-

1000

1900

0

0

1900

4

ROUND

This is a good roll!

Three 5’s = 500 points

Two 1’s = 200 points

This is only 700 points and I would like 1000 but …. A bird in the hand. Not going to risk rolling one die.

STRATEGY

800

100

900

900

1000

-

1000

1900

0

0

1900

500

200

700

2600

5

ROUND

Dang it.

STRATEGY

800

100

900

900

1000

-

1000

1900

0

0

1900

500

200

700

2600

0

0

0

2600

6

ROUND

5 = 50

1=100

1=100

This is only 250 points. I have to have 300 so I have to roll again anyway.

I would rather have a chance to get 3 of a kind so I will only keep one one.

STRATEGY

Meh… keep one 5.

If I keep both 5’s that is 100 points instead of 50 but…

I want 3 die to be the same. If I roll 3 die this is 6 out of 216 choices. BAD odds!

If I roll 4 die I have 36/216 to get 3 of the same but the probability of a farkle is low.

STRATEGY

Probability of a farkle with 4 die

All 4 die are NOT a 1 or a 5

Is 4/6*4/6*4/6*4/6

BUT you have to consider the other options to score…

• 3 of a kind
• 4 of a kind
• A 4 of a kind is a 3 of a kind so subtract out the duplicate

​

STRATEGY

I will keep one 5

STRATEGY

3 Sixes is 600 points.

Rolling one die…. Risky. 2/6 chance of scoring.

I have 700 points.

Will keep the 700

STRATEGY

800

100

900

900

1000

-

1000

1900

0

0

1900

500

200

700

2600

0

0

0

2600

150

600

750

3350