racoma.com.phJ. Angelo Racoma on technology, economics, writing, problogging, and getting things done

One of the built-in games on my Nokia 1112 (a very very basic phone) is Yahtzee. You might be familiar with this game as the Yacht dice game. I usually play this game to pass the time during those lull moments. I used to play this game on the computer, too, way back in the late 1990′s, when we were addicted to Hoyle Board games (we especially liked Parcheesi, too).

I’ve more or less mastered Yahtzee through the many times I’ve played it, but recently I’ve developed a surefire technique to increase points–and I think this might have good parallels with work flow and work habits.

The system

First, the basics of the game. Yahtzee is a dice game, where you roll 5 dice to arrive at a combination. You get a total of three rolls per round, in which you can _save_ certain dice so they won’t be rolled in the next roll (in the hopes that the next roll + the _saved_ dice will give you a good combination). Here’s a visual reference for the rules (although rules have varied through time and through different game releases).

Here are the combinations and the points.

Upper section

* 1 to 6: The sum of the die faces corresponding to the number.

Lower section (combinations)

* 2 Pairs: The sum of all die values
* 3 of a kind, 4 of a kind: The sum of all die values
* Full House: A pair and a trio: 25 points
* Small straight: dice 1 to 4, 2 to 5 or 3 to 6: 30 points
* Large straight: dice 1 to 5 or 2 to 6: 40 points
* Chance: any combination of dice, the sum of all dice
* Yahtzee: 5 of a kind, 50 points

The technique

For the longest time, I had been focusing on filling in the combinations, especially with the upper-end values. For the fixed points, it’s okay to get low die values, since you get fixed points anyway. For instance, three 1′s and two 2′s give you a full house.

But for the combinations where the points are summed up, it’s best to get the higher values. For instance, a four-of-a-kind with four 6′s and one 5 will give you 29 points, while a four-of-a-kind with four 1′s and one 2 will give you only 6 points, since it’s summed up.

Of course, it’s the Yahtzee puzzle that’s the jewel of the game. This gives you 50 points, whether you get five 1′s or five 6′s. But it’s also the most difficult to achieve, in terms of chances.

At first, I tended to disregard the upper section, and just selected these when I couldn’t find a better combination. After all, combinations either get you fixed high points, or the sum of *all* dice. The upper section just gives you the sum of all corresponding die faces. So for instance I get two 5′s and a mix of other die faces, and I select the “5″ box, I only get 10 points.

A new strategy

However, I realized later on that the game–at least according to the rules that my mobile phone uses–that the game will award you a bonus of 50 points if your upper section totals to 63 points or more. This means if you fill in the single number boxes with high values through the game, you get the chance to win an extra 50 points.

For instance, if I get four 6′s, that’s 24. Another four 5′s, that’s 20. Another four 4′s, that’s 16. Another single 3, and that’s 3. In total, that’s 63 points already. I get an additional bonus of 50 points!

It’s just like getting a Yahtzee! But it’s way better, since apart from getting 50 points, you also get the combined points of your upper section boxes.

What have I learned from this game?

In real life, getting the Yahtzee is like winning the lottery. Or it’s like going through a short cut at work, with business, or with other important things. You get the big bucks, or you get some result, but you didn’t really work hard (or smart?) for it. However, your chances of winning the lotto are very low. You either have to be very lucky, or have a very very good strategy to win. And when you do shortcuts (like cheat in exams, bribe your way through bureaucracy, etc.) you’re not really helping solve problems, but instead it’s like helping a sickness get worse.

Building up the upper section, on the other hand, is like working hard (or smart) on something, and then earning a big bonus once you’ve reached a certain goal. It’s like breaking even with your new startup business sooner than expected because you know how to optimize operations for best profit and least cost. It’s like putting out the best output at work (not necessarily by working hard, but perhaps by working smart) and impressing the boss, warranting you a bonus.

What do you get from this? At work, you build up experience (and brownie points with the boss) while getting a hefty bonus paycheck in the process. In business, you better optimize for profit, and hence you are likely to earn even more than you planned.

Focusing on or prioritizing the upper section is like building a structure on top of a solid foundation, instead of just focusing on how the structure looks from the outside. Focusing on winning the Yahtzee and neglecting the upper section is just like building a skyscraper without digging deep into the ground for some good foundation. Soon enough, you have a good looking building in no time, but it’s likely that this will topple soon enough, too.

Focusing on the Yahtzee and the higher combinations made me neglect building up this upper section in the past. But since I discovered that I can get better points by building up the smaller non-combination amounts, I learned to focus on this instead. So now, when I get four 6′s and a 5, I prioritize the *6* box instead of the *four-of-a-kind* box. I know I’ll only get 24 points (6×4) instead of 29 (6×4 + 5) but I know I will potentially gain a bonus of 50 points if I grow my upper section total to the appropriate level.

So when I started focusing on the upper section (and with a bit of luck in die rolls) I can now beat the opponent (which is the phone) more often. And while my highest scores below were in the range of 250+, these days my average is 300+, and my highest would be about 380+.

Now if you get to both build up a solid foundation, and get the Yahtzee, then you’re really lucky and smart!

The rules may vary across games and systems, as I earlier mentioned. But it’s the concept of building up a good, solid foundation that’s important in winning the game.