Pig
One die, and the same choice on every roll: throw again or bank what you have, before a one comes up.
A game of one die and one decision, taken over and over.
On their turn a player rolls and adds what comes up to the . Then the choice: roll again, or what has been gathered and pass the turn on. This can go on as long as you like — but if a one comes up, the turn total is wiped out and the turn ends at once.
The arithmetic is simple and therefore instructive. A one comes up once in six, and the average gain from another roll is about four points. While the turn total is under twenty, rolling pays; past that it does not. Which is why Pig is such a favourite in probability classes: a rule of one line, and a far from obvious best strategy.
Six-sided dice
Under these rules: One die between everybody.
Ordinary gaming dice, pipped from one to six.
The most widespread randomiser people have invented. Opposite faces add up to seven — not a rule of any game but a convention of manufacture, and the thing by which a die is recognised.
Rules of Pig
What you need
One six-sided die and something to keep score on.
Order
Everyone rolls the die before the start; the lowest goes first. Play then passes round.
A turn
The player rolls the die and adds the result to the turn total.
After each roll they choose:
- roll again — and risk what has been gathered;
- bank — add the turn total to their score and pass the turn on.
The one
If a one comes up, the turn total goes to nothing and the turn passes at once. Points already banked are untouched.
End of the game
The game ends when somebody has banked a hundred points or more. That player wins.
Worth knowing
Other targets are used — fifty for a short game. Some descriptions require everybody to have had the same number of turns, in which case the round is played out after the target is reached; in the common version the game ends at once.
Glossary of terms
- Banking
- Stopping of your own accord, adding the turn total to your score and passing the turn on.
- The turn total
- What has been gathered since the turn began and not yet banked. A one wipes it out.