Farkle Scoring, Explained

Farkle's scoring rewards setting dice aside cautiously roll after roll, but the single moment that actually decides most turns is the point where a player chooses to stop banking and roll again — so the clearest way to understand the scoring is to walk one full, chained turn from the first roll to the moment it either banks or collapses.

The base values everything is built from

Single 1s score 100 each; single 5s score 50 each. Three of a kind scores the face value ×100 (three 2s = 200, three 6s = 600), except three 1s, which score a flat 1,000. Every other die not part of a scoring combination on a given roll must be set aside unused — a die that scores nothing can't just be left in the cup and rerolled for free.

Worked example 1: a turn built from three separate rolls

Roll 1 (six dice): 1-1-5-4-6-2. The two 1s score 200, the single 5 scores 50 — 250 banked so far, with 4-6-2 set aside as dead dice for this turn's remaining rolls. Since at least one die scored, the player may reroll the three dice that didn't (the ones set aside as non-scoring, not the ones already banked). Roll 2 (three dice): 5-5-3. Two 5s score 100, bringing the running turn total to 350. The player rerolls the remaining one die. Roll 3 (one die): 1. That single 1 scores 100, bringing the total to 450. Choosing to stop here banks the full 450 points.

Worked example 2: hot dice chaining into a second full set

Starting fresh: Roll 1 (six dice): 1-1-1-5-5-2. Three 1s score 1,000 (not 3×100 — the flat triple bonus for 1s applies), plus two 5s at 50 each, for 1,100 banked so far. That's all six dice used in scoring combinations at once, which triggers hot dice: the player gets to roll all six dice again, with the 1,100 already banked staying safely on the turn's running total. Roll 2 (six fresh dice): 4-4-4-3-2-6. Three 4s score 400. The turn total is now 1,500, with 3-2-6 left as dead dice for any further rerolls this turn.

Worked example 3: an entry-minimum turn that banks nothing at all

A table is using a 500-point entry minimum to get "on the board." A player's very first turn of the game produces a modest 300-point result (three separate 100-point single-1 rolls, stopped early). Because 300 falls short of the 500-point entry threshold, none of it counts — the player's running total stays at zero, exactly as though the turn hadn't scored anything, even though every individual roll was legitimate.

Worked example 4: a Farkle wiping out a large unbanked total

A player has chained together 1,850 points across several rolls this turn without stopping to bank. Feeling ambitious, they reroll the three dice still in play rather than stopping. The roll comes back 2-3-6 — no 1s, no 5s, no triple, nothing that scores at all. This is a Farkle, and it wipes out the ENTIRE 1,850 unbanked for that turn, not just the most recent roll. The player's running game total is completely unaffected, since none of that 1,850 had been banked yet — but the turn itself produces zero points.

Worked example 5: a straight bonus, where it's actually used

At a table that plays with the straight bonus (a real, common, but not universal rule), a player rolls all six dice at once and gets 1-2-3-4-5-6 — every number exactly once. This scores a flat 2,500 points under that table's chosen value, instantly qualifying as hot dice since all six dice were used in one scoring combination, letting the player reroll all six again with 2,500 already secured. A table that doesn't use this bonus would instead have to find scoring combinations within that same roll individually — the single 1 (100) and single 5 (50) would be the only scorable dice, with 2-3-4-6 all left dead, a vastly smaller result from an identical physical roll.

Comparing the two four-of-a-kind conventions on the same roll

Rolling 3-3-3-3-2-6 produces very different scores depending on which convention a table uses. Under the "double the triple" convention, four 3s score double the triple's 300, landing at 600. Under the flat-jump convention, four of a kind scores a fixed 1,000 regardless of which number came up four times. The same physical roll is worth 600 under one ruleset and 1,000 under the other — a 400-point gap from four dice landing on the table exactly the same way.

Worked example 6: choosing to stop instead of chasing hot dice

A player's roll uses all six dice in scoring combinations — three 5s (500) plus three 2s (200), for 700 on that roll alone, bringing hot dice into play. Rather than rerolling all six dice for a chance at more, the player chooses to bank the turn immediately and stop, which is completely legal even though hot dice technically grants a fresh roll. The 700 points are locked in exactly as if the player had reached the same total through several smaller, more cautious rolls — hot dice is an opportunity to keep going, never an obligation.

Worked example 7: two players finishing a close race to the target

Both players are approaching a shared target of 10,000. Player A is sitting at 9,400 and needs just 600 more to win outright on their next turn. Player B, going right before them, chains together 750 points in one turn and banks it, crossing their own total from 9,650 to 10,400 — past the target first. Under a ruleset that ends the game the instant any player crosses the target, the game ends there, and Player A never gets the turn they were counting on to close out their own 600-point gap; under a ruleset that gives every remaining player one final turn once the target is crossed, Player A would still get a chance to respond before the game is actually decided.

The fastest way to total a turn without losing track

1. After every roll, separate scoring dice from dead dice before doing anything else.
2. Add 100 per single 1, 50 per single 5, and each triple at its own value (1,000 flat for three 1s, face value ×100 for anything else).
3. If all six dice have scored across the turn (whether in one roll or several), it's hot dice — reroll all six with the running total protected.
4. A roll with nothing scoring at all wipes the entire turn's unbanked total, not just that roll.

For the entry-minimum threshold, hot-dice continuation rule and straight/three-pairs bonuses this site uses, see the full Farkle rules and the dispute page for exactly which conventions genuinely vary by published ruleset.