- Dice branch
- Dice · node VI
- Played for dew · no cash value
Fifty Thorns
A pub dice game where only doubles score. Ten throws of two dice, five points a double, twenty-five for double six, and a double three that clears the lot.
Pick a stake, then press Throw.
The games are resting.
A pause is on for this device.
The Library, the field notes and the Clearing stay open. See your settings.
About Fifty Thorns
Fifty is a game you may have played in a pub: two dice, doubles only, first to fifty. Thornhallow keeps the scoring and drops the race. There are ten throws, no decisions, and a score at the end that decides the return. One throw in six is a double, so a round usually has one or two of them, and sometimes none.
The double three is what makes it interesting. It can wipe a good score on the last throw, and it can also do nothing at all if it comes first. The strip of throws under the dice marks scoring doubles in green and the clearing double in red, so a round can be read back at a glance.
Fifty itself is a long way off in ten throws: it needs two double sixes, or one and five other doubles, without a double three in between. About one round in forty gets there.
How to play
- Pick a stake and press Throw. Two dice are thrown ten times for you.
- A throw that is not a double scores nothing.
- Double one, two, four or five adds 5 to your score. Double six adds 25.
- Double three clears your score back to zero, wherever it stood.
- After the tenth throw your score sets the return. Fifty or more returns eleven times the stake.
Chance of each result
Exact chances worked out from the rules, the same every round.
| Score | Chance |
|---|---|
| 50 or more | 2.6 % |
| 40 to 45 | 1.3 % |
| 30 to 35 | 11.0 % |
| 25 | 7.0 % |
| 20 | 1.1 % |
| 15 | 4.9 % |
| 10 | 14.6 % |
| 5 | 27.3 % |
| 0 | 30.1 % |
Pay table
Every return is a multiple of your stake. Dew has no cash value and nothing here can be exchanged for anything.
| Score | Return |
|---|---|
| 50 or more | 11× |
| 40 to 45 | 4× |
| 30 to 35 | 2.5× |
| 25 | 1.5× |
| 20 | 1.2× |
| 15 | 1× |
| 10 | 0.6× |
| 5 | 0.3× |
| 0 | 0× |
Fair play
Every result comes from your browser's random number generator, through the rules above and nothing else. There is no hidden balancing, no streak memory and no change of odds after a quiet patch or a good run. The same pay table is read by the game and printed on this page.
Questions
Can I stop before the tenth throw to keep my score?
No. All ten throws are made every round, so there is no decision to agonise over in the middle.
How often does a double three come up?
One throw in thirty-six, so about one round in four sees at least one.
Why is the game called Fifty Thorns?
After the pub game Fifty, with a thorny double three in place of the usual penalty.
At a glance
- Dice
- two six-sided dice
- Throws
- 10 per round, all automatic
- Scoring
- doubles 5, double six 25
- Double three
- clears the score to 0
- Stakes
- 10 to 200 dew per round
- A round
- about 4 seconds
Where to stop
A cleared score feels like something taken away, and that feeling can make the next round seem urgent. It is only the dice. If a double three has you reaching for another round at once, step back for a few minutes.
Set a checkpoint
