Certain hands require a bit more flexibility in how you treat them. That is, they don’t always adhere to the fundamental rules that have been set down so far. By learning how each hand can and cannot work for you, the better you will be at the game of Yahtzee.

A decision that comes up frequently is how to play two pair. For example, if it is early on in the game and the roll is 2-6-2-6-5 you may wonder if you should keep both pairs and try for the Full House or if you should keep just the higher pair and re-roll three dice. Since Yahtzee obviously has no category for two pair, keeping both means that you are going all out for the Full House, which is a Lower Section category. In keeping with one of the fundamental themes of getting ahead in the Upper Section, it is better to keep only the higher pair in this situation early on in the game. If the score box for the higher pair is already filled, it is still better to keep the lower pair than to keep both. Keeping the single pair early allows much greater opportunity at the time that it is most beneficial to be opportunistic.

When confronted with a roll that contains both a pair and a Small Straight, assuming that the Small Straight, Large Straight, and the Upper Section entry corresponding to the pair are all unfilled, several factors have to be considered. Among them, the type of Small Straight, how many re-rolls remain, and the value of the pair all need to be looked at. Based on the fact that a Small Straight will occur relatively frequently and a Large Straight will not, the following rules will summarize the best strategy for this situation. After the first roll, you should keep the pair only if it is high such as 4’s or better and the Small Straight is 1-2-3-4 or 3-4-5-6. Otherwise you should keep the Small Straight. Also, you should keep all Small Straights of 2-3-4-5 regardless of the value of the pair. After the second roll, it is automatic that you want to keep all of the Small Straights.

The next dilemma you may face is if you encounter the Small Straight and a pair but your Small Straight is already filled. Do you then keep the pair or take an early shot at the Large Straight? Well, if the Upper Section category corresponding to the pair is open you should keep the pair unless you have 2-3-4-5. This is true after either the first or the second roll. If the Upper Section category corresponding to the pair is filled you should keep the highest single die after the first roll, and keep all straights after the second roll.

What if the first roll produces a natural Full House? This might surprise you but on the first roll of a hand early in the game when the corresponding Upper Section and Full House boxes are unfilled, it is best to break the guaranteed Full House and roll for the 3 of the kind. The reason is the powerful potential of this hand to make the 4 of a kind or Yahtzee on one of the two re-rolls. Faced with the same decision after the second roll, you should break the Full House again if the 3 of a kind is 4’s or higher, even though there’s only one roll left to improve the hand. Again, the intent is to improve the 4 of a kind to get ahead in the Upper Section or a Yahtzee. When a Full House is made after the final roll, you should always score it as such on your score card. Finally, if you have made a Full House and the Upper Section category corresponding to the 3 of a kind is filled, you should still break it to roll the 3 of a kind after the first roll, but hold the guaranteed Full House after the second roll. In this situation where the Lower Section 4 of a kind is also filled, always keep the Full House.