Four Twenty-one Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Games With Three Dice
• 421

Games With Three Dice

Here are several challenging games!

421

A classic game in France, where it is often played in bars and cafés for small stakes. For 3–10 players. You also need a sufficient supply of chips – see below.

Aim of the game: To be the first to get rid of all your chips.

How to play: All players take 3 chips each. Put another 11 chips in the pot in the middle of the table, before the game starts.

All players make one roll each with the three dice. Highest (according to the ranking order below) becomes the starting player, and the others follow in clockwise order. The game is played in two phases: In the first you take turns emptying the pot, and in the second you try to get rid of the chips you have accumulated.

During the first phase, all the players (beginning with the starting player) roll all three dice once; no re-rolls are allowed. It is suggested that you keep track of the results using paper and pen, to avoid any arguments! The player with the lowest result must take chips from the pot, according to the following rules and ranking order, from highest to lowest:

• If the highest result was 4-2-1, the player with the lowest result must take all the remaining chips in the pot except one. (If only one chip is left, he takes this.)
• If the highest result was 1-1-x, the player with the lowest result must take x chips from the pot (the number on the third die, which must show any other number but 1).
• If the highest result was three of a kind (for example 5-5-5), the player with the lowest result must take three chips from the pot.
• If the highest result was a straight (for example 3-4-5), the player with the lowest result must take two chips from the pot.
• If the highest result was any other than the ones listed above, the player with the lowest result must take one chip from the pot.

The result 4-2-1 is the highest possible. Ranking the 1-1-x results, 1-1-6 is the highest and 1-1-2 the lowest; among three of a kind, 6-6-6 is highest and 1-1-1 lowest; among the straights 6-5-4 is highest and 3-2-1 lowest; and among the remaining possible results, the highest die is counted first, then the next highest, and finally the lowest. Highest among these remaining results is this 6-6-5, and the lowest possible roll is 2-2-1.

You play as many rounds as needed to empty the pot. In every round, the player who was forced to take chips in the preceding round rolls last.

As soon as the pot is empty, the second phase starts. The starting player at the beginning of the game now rolls first, and may re-roll once or twice – but no more – if he so chooses, setting aside if he wishes one or two dice before each re-roll. The final result is noted down.

Then all players in turn also roll the dice, but may not use any more rolls than the starting player! If he chose to not use any re-rolls, being satisfied with his initial result, the others must also roll only once each. (It is however permitted to use fewer throws than the starting player, if he used one or both of his re-rolls.)

After all players have rolled, the player with the highest result puts chips back into the pot; the number corresponding to the above list. Special rule: If the highest result in a round is 4-2-1, that player gives all his chips except one to the lowest player in that round, instead of putting them into the pot.

In every succeeding round, the player who put chips into the pot on the previous round rolls first.

The first player to get rid of all his chips is the winner. If during the second phase two or more players are tied for highest roll, they throw one die each to settle matters – highest wins.