Dice Pole Vault Game: Soft or Stiff Pole? Rules and Odds

Dice pole vault is a field event for two to six athletes, with one big decision at every height: which pole do you take? A soft pole means rolling two dice, steady and reliable. A stiff pole means rolling three dice, harder to control but able to reach heights the soft pole never can. The bar rises 20 cm at a time, you get three tries at each height, and the last athlete still clearing wins. A competition takes about fifteen minutes.

What you need

• Three six-sided dice, or a dice roller that can roll two or three dice.
• A score sheet with a column for each height from 4.40 m to 6.40 m and a row for each athlete. Mark O for a clear, X for a miss, and S or T for the soft or stiff pole.
• A random name picker to set a fair vaulting order.

Who vaults first?

Put every athlete’s name into the random name picker and draw them one by one to set the vaulting order. Keep the same order at every height. Going first or last does not change anyone’s chance, because every athlete gets the same three tries at each height.

How to play

1. The bar starts at 4.40 m. Before your first try at a height, choose the soft or the stiff pole. You keep that pole for all your tries at this height.
2. Soft pole: roll two dice and add them up.
3. Stiff pole: roll three dice, add them up and subtract 4.
4. If your result reaches the number needed in the chart below, you clear the height: mark O. If not, mark X and try again after the others.
5. Three misses in a row at one height and you are out. Your best height is the last one you cleared.
6. When everyone still in has cleared or gone out, the bar goes up 20 cm. The competition ends when every athlete is out, or after 6.40 m.
7. Countback: on a tie, fewer misses at the tied height wins, then fewer misses in the whole competition, then one extra try each.

This is a simple home version, not an official game. Real vaulters do choose between poles of different stiffness, depending on the height, their run-up and even the wind, and a stiffer pole can send a strong athlete higher. The countback rule here follows the real one. Armand Duplantis of Sweden has pushed the men’s world record past 6.2 m, so the top heights in this game are close to real world-record territory.

The height chart

In the table, “Height” is where the bar is. The other two columns show the number you need with each pole and the exact chance of clearing on one try: out of 36 ways for two dice, and out of 216 ways for three dice.

Up to 5.60 m the soft pole is the better choice, because the totals of two dice bunch up in the middle, as our guide to dice probability explains. From 5.80 m the stiff pole wins, and at 6.20 m and 6.40 m it is the only pole that can clear the bar at all.

How high can one athlete go?

The next table assumes an athlete always picks the better pole. “Clear within three tries” is the chance to clear that height once you are there, and “Reach and clear from the start” is the chance to clear every height up to and including it. Both are exact, rounded.

The most common best height is 5.20 m, closely followed by 5.40 m. Switching to the stiff pole at 5.80 m pays off: it raises the chance of clearing 6.00 m from the start from about 0.35% with the soft pole only to about 0.64%, almost double. Clearing 6.20 m happens only about 3 times in 10,000 competitions for one athlete.

What height wins?

With four athletes, the winning height is the best height of the four. In this table, “Chance” is the exact probability that the competition is won at that height, rounded.

Most competitions with four athletes are won at 5.40 m or 5.60 m, so the pole decision often matters right at the end, when the last two athletes chase the win.

Tips

• Use one die of a different colour as the third, stiff-pole die, so everyone sees which pole was chosen.
• Say “soft” or “stiff” out loud before your first try at each height.
• For younger players, use only the soft pole until 5.60 m.
• Keep each athlete’s best height as a personal record to beat next time.

Classroom ideas

• Probability: why is the stiff pole worse at low heights but better at high ones? Compare the spread of totals for two dice and three dice.
• Decisions: before playing, ask students at which height they would switch poles. Then check the chart.
• Measurement: how many students standing on each other’s shoulders would it take to reach 6 m?
• Fractions: compare 3 in 36 with 20 in 216 by turning both into fractions out of 216.

Variations

• Passing: an athlete may skip a height and keep their tries, as in real competitions.
• Pole change: allow changing poles between tries at the same height.
• Indoor season: start at 4.00 m and raise the bar 10 cm at a time, adding two extra rows to the chart.
• Team event: teams of two add their best heights together.

For a jump without a pole, try our dice high jump game. For another event where the throw counts, try our dice javelin game.

FAQ

How do you play pole vault with dice?

Before each height, choose the soft pole (two dice) or the stiff pole (three dice, minus 4). Reach the number in the chart to clear the bar. You get three tries per height, and three misses in a row put you out.

Which pole is better?

The soft pole up to 5.60 m, the stiff pole from 5.80 m. Above 6.00 m only the stiff pole can clear the bar.

How many athletes can play?

Two to six athletes work well.

What height usually wins?

With four athletes, usually 5.40 m or 5.60 m.

What happens on a tie?

Countback: fewer misses at the tied height wins, then fewer misses in the whole competition, then one extra try each.

Do real vaulters choose between poles?

Yes. Vaulters use poles of different stiffness, and they may change pole during a competition, depending on the height and conditions.