Yahtzee

YahtzeeTrainer

• Stand-alone version (open source)
  Latest version 1.3 (14 August 2005) YahtzeeTrainerLazarus.zip [ 121 KB; ReadMe.txt ]     <-- N E W
  SHA1 authentication digests produced by 'openssl dgst -sha1':

  SHA1(YahtzeeTrainerLazarus.zip)= 78b4a880036d88b2e1c6b0679a41e6864f2d1517
  

  and produced by 'gpg --print-md sha1':

  YahtzeeTrainerLazarus.zip: 78B4 A880 036D 88B2 E1C6  B067 9A41 E686 4F2D 1517
  

  Tables and executable (1.3) for Mac OS X (tested under 10.3.7; powerpc-darwin; requires X11+GTK): YahtzeeTrainerLazarusDarwin.zip [ 11 MB ]     <-- N E W
  SHA1 authentication digests produced by 'openssl dgst -sha1':

  SHA1(YahtzeeTrainerLazarusDarwin.zip)= c68940a282c6264d0b94ce5b811e70be0e8ce2bd
  

  and produced by 'gpg --print-md sha1':

  YahtzeeTrainerLazarusDarwin.zip: C689 40A2 82C6 264D 0B94  CE5B 811E 70BE 0E8C
                                   E2BD
  

• Stand-alone version for PC/Windows
  Latest version 1.2.1 (30 December 2003): YahtzeeTrainer.zip [ 300 KB; ReadMe.txt ]
  SHA1 authentication digests produced by 'openssl dgst -sha1':

  SHA1(YahtzeeTrainer.zip)= 763cd646471fbdeb02e3435064a53cf7e24721fa
  SHA1(gstbl.zip)= f0e3b8b535323d03982ba38cad3bbdddae665d3e
  

  and produced by 'gpg --print-md sha1':

  YahtzeeTrainer.zip: 763C D646 471F BDEB 02E3  4350 64A5 3CF7 E247 21FA
  gstbl.zip: F0E3 B8B5 3532 3D03 982B  A38C AD3B BDDD AE66 5D3E
  

  Notes (also see ReadMe.txt):
  • File paths are no longer truncated at 80 characters.
  • The table directory can be selected.
  • The tables can be generated from scratch, and are no longer included in the main download. You can download them separately: gstbl.zip [almost. 8 MB].
    On a 2.8 GHz PC it takes less than 10 minutes to generate the required "Optimal Expected Score" table, and less than 40 minutes to generate the optional "Variance" table.
  • The Update button on the Advisor window now automatically triggers an analysis.
  • The program does not have to be restarted to use newly created tables.

  Previous version 1.1 (obsolete; use only if the newer version does not work for you; please report any problems): YahtzeeTrainer1.1.zip [ 8 MB; ReadMe.txt ]
  Known limitations (of version 1.1):

  • File paths are truncated to 80 characters (somewhere internally).
    Symptom: The program cannot find the tables. In the message dialog, you'll see the truncated path (it should end in '.gstbl').
    Workaround: Put the YahtzeeTrainer folder not too deeply nested, but close to the 'root'.

Publications

• Optimal Solitaire Yahtzee Strategies by Tom Verhoeff. Slides for a presentation [older version]
• Variance in Markov Chains: A Calculational Approach by Tom Verhoeff in Proceedings of the Eindhoven FASTAR Days 2004 (3-4 Sept. 2004), Loek Cleophas & Bruce W. Watson (Eds.). Computer Science Technical Report 04-40, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, December 2004. Accompanying slides.
• How to Maximize Your Score in Solitaire Yahtzee (unfinished) by Tom Verhoeff.
• How best to beat high scores in Yahtzee: A caching structure for evaluating large recurrent functions by Cas Cremers, Eindhoven University of Technology, Fac. of Math. & CS, June 2002
• Center for Yahtzee Research and Applications, where you can find (among other stuff): An Optimal Strategy for Yahtzee by James Glenn, Loyola College Technical Report CS-TR-0002 (May 2006).
• The Analysis of Games, Focusing on Variance by Tom Verhoeff. Appeared in MaCHazine (quarterly of the Math & CS Studiy Associations `Christiaan Huygens' of TU Delft), Volumne 13, Number 3, March 2009.

See/Order Yahtzee Games/Books at Amazon.com

• Electronic Hand-Held Yahtzee Game, by Hasbro
• Yahtzee Deluxe Edition, by Hasbro
• Yahtzee (Standard Edition), by Hasbro
• Yahtzee Score Pads, by Hasbro
• Mickey Mouse Yahtzee, by Hasbro
• Advantage Yahtzee, by Olaf Vancura; Puzzlewright, 2010.
• Older edition (?): Advantage Yahtzee, by Olaf Vancura; Huntington Press, 2001.
• Yahtzee Scratch & Play, by Peter Gordon (and in cooperation with Tom Verhoeff); Sterling Press, 2007.
  At Barnes & Noble
• Yahtzee Scratch & Play to Go!, by Peter Gordon, in cooperation with Tom Verhoeff; Sterling Press, 2009.     <-- N E W
  At Barnes & Noble

Links

• Wikipedia about Yahtzee
• Miranda Swier. ``Op zoek naar de optimale spelstrategie van Yahtzee'' (Dutch), Cursor, Vol. 41, Nr. 38, 24 June 1999, p. 7.
• Hans van Maanen. ``Ook Yahtzee bezwijkt'' (Dutch), Het Parool (newspaper), 9 oktober 1999
• Phil Woodward. "Yahtzee®: The Solution", Chance 16(1):17-20 (Winter 2003).
• Solitaire Yahtzee by Felix Holderied without Extra Yahtzee Bonus and Jokers. Gives feedback on how well you have chosen. Includes a simplified account of how the game has been solved (in German).
  "Der Würfel ist gefallen": article in Spektrum der Wissenschaft (31-Oct-1999)
• Ivars Peterson. ``Solving Yahtzee'', Science News, Vol. 163, No. 11, Week of March 15, 2003.

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• Solitaire Yahtzee and variants (online, in Java, with high-score list)
• Solitaire Yahtzee in Java (with sound)
• Kniffel
• Yahtzee Online (no download needed; free; with ads; Nederlandse versie)
• The Yahtzee! Page with rules and trivia