Thrillist Nation
Emailed on: Friday July 6, 2007Forty One
You can pull out as many dice as you like, as long as it's at least one per throw. Optional rules include drinking for 1) not qualifying, 2) sloppy dice, and 3) tallying under 16 points.
As we enter summer's post-holiday depths, there's little for men to do besides sink into hammocks, drink during the afternoon, and casually gamble. Instead of exhausting yourself shuffling cards, grab some dice and play a round or fifty of Forty One.
Developed by a cadre of intrepid USC students, Forty One's a highly addictive time-waster playable virtually anywhere -- all you need's six dice and a surface to roll them on/frantically snatch money off when T.J. Hooker bursts in to demand that you snitch on Fat Louie. The goal: get the highest score on four dice, while the other two qualify your turn by showing a "four" and a "one" (a pairing responsible for the game's name and the jargon "snake eyes-nostrils-anus"). Start by rolling all six dice; after each throw, you must set at least one die aside*, either to count toward your score, or, if it's a four or one, help ensure your score stands. Once your turn's over, non-4/1 dice get totaled and the next player goes; whoever's closest to 24 wins the pot, and the right to pick his teeth with a knife.
Holding out on removing your qualifying dice improves your scoring potential (more dice in play, better chance for sixes), but without a four and a one, your tally counts for d*ck -- leaving you to forfeit your hammock, drink in the morning, and find that the only thing casual this summer is your commitment to paying rent.
