At the beginning of a Yahtzee game, the scorecard is empty which means you have tons of possibilities. Given what you now know about how many directions a game can take, it stands to reason that your early choices will have a great significance on your prospects for the entire game. Now, it is important to learn how you should approach the beginning of a game of Yahtzee.

The proper strategy at a game’s outset can be summarized by three major themes:

• Follow the dice
• Get ahead in the Upper Section (or at least stay on average)
• Be opportunistic with “difficult” hands such as Yahtzee, Large Straight, and the 4 of a kind.

Following the dice simply means that you should take what the dice give to you. You need to remember that throughout the game you’ll be trying to make hands that are either X of a kinds or straights. Early in the game, it’s not important to pick out specific categories and try to complete them. Rather, you should take the good scores that present themselves. The idea is to go with the flow. If a roll contains three or more of any particular value, it’s generally best to hold these dice. For example, if your first roll of the game is 3-6-6-6-4, the best play here is the obvious one. Hold the three 6’s. If the first roll is 1-3-4-5-6 then go with the small straight and hope to get a large one. There is no reason to force the issue when the game is new. Just enjoy the luxury of being able to get what you are given.

When it comes to getting ahead in the Upper Section, it should be done as quickly as possible. This improves your chances of netting the 35-poitn bonus for making a total of 63 points or more. Remember that 63 points represents an average of three numbers in each category. Therefore, if you can get ahead by filling in one or more of the Upper Section categories with four of a particular number you will be well on your way to securing the bonus points at the conclusion of the game. Final hand combinations that contain 6’s cause a lot of dilemmas if you don’t get them up top as soon as possible. A lot of 6-6-6-6-x should be scored in the Upper Section if possible. In fact, any 4 of a kind early in the game is best applied to fill a box in the Upper Section, even four 5’s or 6’s, which most people automatically use for their 4 of a kind. When it comes to 3 of a kinds, this had too is best entered in the Upper Section instead of a 3 of a kind. Remember that the 3 of a kind is fairly common so you will likely have other opportunities in the game to fill this spot. Early in the game 3 of a kinds are best applied to fill the Upper Section, which keeps you on pace to earn the 35 point bonus.

Being opportunistic is the last theme of strategy that you need to recognize. Aside from Yahtzee, the two toughest boxes to fill in the Lower Section are the 4 of a kind and the Large Straight. With respect to the 4 of a kind, remember that the score for this hand is the total of all five dice. Therefore, a hand of 1-1-1-1-4, which is worth 8 as a 4 of a kind, is far inferior to a hand of 6-6-6-6-4, which is worth 28 as a 4 of a kind. In the early stages, consider filling the 4 of a kind score box only after the corresponding Upper Section box is filled.

You need to remember that there are only two straight hands, the Small and the Large. The Small Straight is relatively easy to make and there are many opportunities to fill this box during the course of most games. Therefore, you should never keep three dice of a Small Straight early on in the game. For example, it is not wise to keep a 3-4-5 hoping to get a 6 or a 2.

Making the Large Straight is considerably more difficult. It stands to reason then if a hand with a strong Large Straight potential arises, you should actually go for it. For example, if you roll a 2-3-4-5-5 you have a far better chance to go for the Large Straight rather than keep the two 5’s. You may notice that this possible straight is “open ended” which means that it can be completed on either side with a 1 or a 6. In a “closed end” situation such as a 3-4-5-5-6, it would be to your benefit to not go for the Large Straight and instead keep the 5-5.