8
8
(30 points) 7
7 7 Joker 9 10 J Q 9 9 9 10 J Q 9 10 K A 9 10 J Q 8 K K K 8 9 10 J 10 J Q Q Q 7 9 9 Q K A 9 10 A J Q K (40 points) 9 10 (26 points)Note: "Yahtzee" is a tradmark of Milton Bradley, as far as I know.
Players: Two (potentially more)
Cards: Seven to Ace, plus two Jokers
Objective: To score the most points by getting different
poker-like hands
Setup
Draw up two columns to record the running total for each player,
and copy the following table:
| Hand | Points | Player 1 | Player 2 |
| Sevens | 10 each | ||
| Eights | 10 each | ||
| Nines | 10 each | ||
| Tens | 10 each | ||
| Jacks | 10 each | ||
| Queens | 10 each | ||
| Kings | 10 each | ||
| Aces | 15 each | ||
| Five of a kind | 120 | ||
| Royal flush | 100 | ||
| Four of a kind | 90 | ||
| Small royal flush | 80 | ||
| Flush | 70 | ||
| Large red/black straight | 70 | ||
| Full house | 60 | ||
| Large straight | 50 | ||
| Small red/black straight | 50 | ||
| Three of a kind | 40 | ||
| Two pairs | 40 | ||
| Small straight | 30 | ||
| Tiny royal flush | 30 | ||
| One pair | 20 | ||
| Royalty | 10 each | ||
| Numbers | total |
Bonuses:
Pair, 3/4/5 of a kind or full house: JQK +10, Aces +20
Flush or royal flush: Diamonds +10, Hearts +20
Red/black straight: Red +10
Play
Each round, the dealer shuffles the cards and then deals five cards to each player, and places the rest of the cards in the middle (this is the "stock"). The top card is turned over and placed next to the stock.
Players have two turns each and then show their cards. The non-dealer has the first turn. On each turn, the player can either "stay" (in which case they have no more turns), or choose from one to five cards to throw out, which are put to one side. They then draw the same number of cards from the stock or the top of the discard pile or both, so that they have five cards again. The cards that were put aside are then placed on top of the discard pile.
After each player has had both turns, the players show their cards and say which hand they want to count them as, and add the score for that hand to their total (see below). If the other player has already scored for that hand, then the hand is crossed out (neither player can have that hand any more). Otherwise, a cross is put next to it in that player's column.
Note that "five of a kind" and "royal flush" are special hands that are not crossed off; they can each be scored any number of times by each player. Also note that "sevens", "eights" etc. can only be scored once by each player.
If there is no hand a player can score, they do not score that round. If the only unscored hands left for a player (apart from "five of a kind" and "royal flush") are "sevens", "eights", etc, then the player must choose one of them and cross it off. If the other player has already scored that hand, it is crossed off completely; otherwise, the other player may score it once, and then it is crossed off for both players.
Jokers are wild and can stand for any other card (which is why it is possible to get "five of a kind").
Ending the game
Play continues until every hand has been crossed off except for the two special hands ("five of a kind" and "royal flush"). The game is finished as follows:
Two more rounds are played, giving each player another chance to get "five of a kind" or "royal flush", with three turns for each player instead of two. If either player succeeds, an extra round is played. The game ends when there are no more rounds left to play.
Winning
The winner is the player with the highest number of points at the end of the game.
Hands
Each type of hand is described below.
| Hand | Description | Example | Score |
| Sevens, eights, etc | 10 for each seven, eight, etc | 8 8 8 (30 points) | 10-50 |
| Five of a kind | Four of a kind plus a Joker | 7 7 7 7 Joker | 120 |
| Royal flush | Large straight of one suit | 8 9 10 J Q | 100 |
| Four of a kind | Four cards of one type | 9 9 9 9 | 90 |
| Small royal flush | Small straight of one suit | 9 10 J Q | 80 |
| Flush | Five cards of one suit | 7 9 10 K A | 70 |
| Large red/black straight | Large straight of one colour | 8 9 10 J Q | 70 |
| Full house | A pair plus three of a kind | 8 8 K K K | 60 |
| Large straight | Sequence of five cards | 7 8 9 10 J | 50 |
| Small red/black straight | Small straight of one colour | 9 10 J Q | 50 |
| 3 of a kind | Three cards of one type | Q Q Q | 40 |
| 2 pairs | Two lots of pairs | 7 7 9 9 | 40 |
| Small straight | Sequence of four cards | J Q K A | 30 |
| Tiny royal flush | 3 card sequence of one suit | 8 9 10 | 30 |
| 1 pair | Two cards of one type | A A | 20 |
| Royalty | 10 for each Jack/Queen/King | J J Q K (40 points) | 10-50 |
| Numbers | Add total of all number cards | 7 9 10 (26 points) | 7-50 |
Remember that "five of a kind" and "royal flush" may be scored any number of times by each player, and "sevens", "eights", etc may only be scored once.
Bonuses
There are extra bonuses for certain types of hands, as follows:
For pairs, 3/4/5 of a kind, two
pairs and full houses, there is a bonus of
10 points if the cards are Jacks, Queens or Kings, and
20 points if they are Aces.
For "two pairs" and "full house", use the highest pair involved.
For flushes and all types of royal flush,
there is a bonus of
10 points if the suit is Diamonds, and
20 points if it is Hearts.
For red/black straights, there is a bonus of
10 points if it is red.
Optional rules
Crossing off hands
The rule about crossing off a hand when a player cannot go and there are only "sevens", "eights", etc. left applies whenever a player cannot go, and not just when these hands are left.
Three times only
Each hand may be scored a maximum of three times for each player.
Picking one at a time
Instead of picking up new cards all at once, up to five cards may be picked up, one at a time (choosing a card to discard before picking up each time). A picked up card may not be discarded on the same turn.
Bonus scores
If the total of all of the "sevens", "eights", etc is 255 or more at the end of the game (an average of three of each type), then the player gets a bonus one hundred points.
Variations
Mini yahtzee
For a shorter game, use only the following hands:
| Hand | Score |
| Five of a kind | 120 |
| Royal flush | 100 |
| Four of a kind | 90 |
| Small royal flush | 80 |
| Flush | 70 |
| Full house | 60 |
| Large straight | 50 |
| Three of a kind | 40 |
| Two pairs | 40 |
| Small straight | 30 |
| One pair | 20 |
Continuous yahtzee
Instead of having two pick ups and then reshuffling, players continue to have turns until the cards run out. The deck is then reshuffled (except that the top five cards are left on the discard pile), and play continues. Players may put their cards down and score on any turn. When they do, their cards are placed on the bottom of the discard pile, and they draw the next five cards from the pack as their new hand.
"Royal flushes" and "five of a kind" are treated the same way as any other hand (they are crossed off when both players have got them). The game ends when one player has got every type of hand.
Optionally, when one player puts their cards down, the other player has one more turn (if desired) and then they must put their cards down too.