Pig Dice Game: Rules, Variants and When to Hold
Pig is the simplest push-your-luck dice game there is. All you need is one die and the nerve to decide when to stop. Children love it, it is a great way to practise adding, and it hides some surprisingly interesting math. Here are the rules, a few popular variants and what the numbers say about when to hold.
What You Need
- One six-sided die.
- Two or more players, ages 6 and up.
- Paper and a pencil to keep score.
No die? The Dice Roller rolls one die with a tap.
How to Play
- Roll. On your turn, roll the die and add the number to your turn total.
- Roll again or hold. You may keep rolling as long as you like, adding each roll to your turn total. When you hold, the turn total goes onto your score and play passes to the next player.
- Rolling a 1. If you roll a 1, your turn total drops to zero and your turn ends. Points you held on earlier turns are safe.
- Winning. The first player to reach 100 points wins.
Because the first player has a small advantage, some groups give every player the same number of turns: when someone reaches 100, the others each get one last turn.
When Should You Hold?
Every roll has a one in six chance of showing a 1 and wiping out your turn. The other five faces add 4 points on average. So once your turn total reaches 20, the expected gain from one more roll (4 points times five chances in six) equals the expected loss (20 points times one chance in six). That is where the famous rule "hold at 20" comes from.
We worked out what each simple hold-at rule earns over many turns:
| Hold at | Average points per turn | Turns that score |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | 6.9 | 59% |
| 15 | 7.9 | 47% |
| 20 | 8.1 | 38% |
| 25 | 8.0 | 30% |
| 30 | 7.6 | 24% |
Holding at 20 or 21 gives the highest average, a little over 8 points per turn. Holding too early wastes good turns, and holding too late loses too many turns to a 1. Note that a turn only scores about 38% of the time at 20, so long dry spells are normal.
Hold at 20 is a good rule, but it is not the best way to win. In 2004 Todd Neller and Clifton Presser computed perfect play for Pig. It changes with the score: a player far behind should take bigger risks, and a player close to 100 often does best to keep rolling and try to win in that same turn. For more on how dice behave, see our guide to dice probability.
Popular Variants
- Two-Dice Pig: roll two dice. A single 1 ends your turn with nothing; double 1s wipe your whole score.
- Big Pig: with two dice, double 1s score 25 instead, and other doubles score double their total.
- Skunk: a classroom favorite. Everyone plays each round together and stands to stay in; anyone still standing when a 1 is rolled loses that round's points.
- Pass the Pigs: a boxed game from the 1970s that uses two small pig-shaped dice instead of normal ones, with points for how the pigs land.
Where Pig Comes From
Pig is a folk game, so nobody knows who first played it. The American gambling writer John Scarne described it in print in the 1940s, and it has been a favorite of teachers ever since, because it teaches probability and adding at the same time.
If your family likes Pig, try Farkle, which uses the same push-your-luck idea with six dice, or Shut the Box. You will find more quick games in our list of easy dice games.
FAQ
How do you play the Pig dice game?
Roll one die as many times as you like, adding each roll to your turn total. Hold to bank the total, but if you roll a 1 you lose the turn total and your turn ends. The first player to 100 wins.
What is the best strategy for Pig?
A simple and strong rule is to hold once your turn total reaches 20. It gives the highest average score per turn. Perfect play also takes the scores into account and takes more risk when you are far behind.
Why hold at 20 in Pig?
At 20 points, the expected gain from one more roll equals the expected loss. Each roll adds about 4 points five times out of six but loses everything one time in six.
How many players can play Pig?
Any number from two upward, though it is most fun with two to six. It also works as a classroom game with teams.
What happens if you roll a 1 in Pig?
You lose all the points from that turn and play passes to the next player. Points you held on earlier turns are safe.