Before you start learning the intricate strategies to playing Yahtzee, first you must learn the basic rules. The game is relatively self-explanatory so if you already know the rules then by all means you can start playing the game, but if you are new to Yahtzee or want to learn how it is really played then you can keep reading.

The reason Yahtzee is so popular is because of its simplicity. Almost anyone can play it no matter what language or age. The object of Yahtzee is to achieve the highest score by constructing up to 13 different poker hands from the rolling of five dice. As the hands are made, they are recorded on a specialized Yahtzee scorecard. Each combination that a player makes earns a specified number of points, which is indicated on the scorecard. That is basically it. Yahtzee is really only made up of two parts which are playing the hands and recording the results. That is what makes it so loved, because it only takes seconds to learn and there is rarely any confusion as to how the game is played.

The play of a Yahtzee hand consists of an initial roll of all five dice and up to two re-rolls of whichever dice you want to re-roll. During the course of a hand, the player has a great deal of flexibility of which dice he wants to keep and which dice he wants to re-roll. There are basically two rules when it comes to re-rolls. The first is that any or all dice may be held or discarded prior to each re-roll. That simply means that in the middle of a hand, the player can choose to change their strategy. For example:

A player may roll a 2-6-3-3-2 on his first roll, and then proceeds to keep the 3-3. Then he re-rolls the dice and comes up with a 2-4-5 creating the hand 3-3-2-4-5. The 2-3-4-5 makes up a small straight which he may like to keep. Therefore, he can then hold the 2-3-4-5 and roll again hoping to get a 1 or a 6 to make the large straight, or if he already has the large straight he can simply record his small straight score.

The second rules falls under the previous statement. The second rule is that it is not mandatory to use all three dice rolls. There will be many times in which either after the first or the second roll that the player will not need or want to roll again. It may even be best to hold all five dice and end the hand early. Again, the player can stop after the initial roll, the second roll, or he may continue till he has rolled three times.

During the course of the game it is possible to roll the same hands twice. At no point in time can the person record a second hand or change the first hand if they get a better hand later in the game. Once you record something in the appropriate box that is how it stays until you move onto the next game.