Zilch

Zilch is a dice game in which players compete individually to finish with the highest score. The race is to 5,000 points to trigger the final round.

Game Times:

• Monday and Friday at 3:30 PM.
• Wednesday at 9:30 AM.

How to Play

Players begin in alphabetical order. New players may join during the first two rounds and are added to the end of the playing order. No new players may join once the scores have been announced at the end of the second round.

Taking Your Turn

The host rolls all six dice for you.

After each roll, you must set aside at least one scoring die or scoring combination, if available. You may set aside additional scoring dice or leave them available to roll again.

For example, if you roll 1-2-2-5-5-6, you could keep the 1 and both 5s for 200 points, or keep only the 1 and roll the other five dice again.

You may continue rolling the remaining dice to increase your score or stop and bank the points you've accumulated during your turn.

Be careful! If you roll no scoring dice, you've Zilched and lose the points accumulated during that turn.

Getting on the Scoreboard

You must accumulate at least 500 points in a turn before you can bank your first score, this is called getting off of the bench.

After you've gotten off of the bench you may bank any valid score on subsequent turns.

Hot Dice

If all six dice have been set aside for scoring, you have Hot Dice!

You may bank your accumulated points or roll all six dice again to increase your score.

Forgiveness

If your first roll of your turn contains no scoring dice, you receive one additional chance, this is called forgiveness.

Forgiveness is available only once per player per game.

Scoring

• Single 1: 100 points.
• Single 5: 50 points.
• Three 1s: 1,000 points.
• Three of a kind (except 1s): 100 times the face value. For example, three 4s score 400 points.
• Six-dice straight (1-2-3-4-5-6): 1,500 points.
• Triple double (three pairs): 500 points.
• Four of a kind plus a pair: 500 points.

Reaching Game Point

Scores are announced after the second round and after each subsequent round.

If a player has reached or exceeded 5,000 points when the scores are announced, game point has been reached.

The next round becomes the final round.

Before each player's turn in the final round, the host announces how many points that player needs to take the lead.

At the end of the final round, the player with the highest total score wins.

Player Attendance and Courtesy

When the host calls your name, please respond promptly.

If you don't respond, the host will call your name a second time. If there is still no response, your turn is skipped and the dice are offered to the next player.

Please stay attentive, allow other players to make their own decisions, and keep interruptions to a minimum.

Good luck, and don't Zilch out!