Every extra Yahtzee after the first one gives you a 100-point bonus. The game uses five dice, and on each turn you may roll up to three times, keeping any dice you like between rolls. After you have already scored 50 points in the Yahtzee category, rolling five of a kind again earns a 100-point bonus. That bonus stacks each time you roll another Yahtzee. The bonus is separate from whatever category you choose to score that turn. You still must fill one of the 13 categories, and each category can only be used once per game.

How the Extra Yahtzee Bonus Works

Once you have marked the Yahtzee category (five of a kind) in the upper section and collected your 50 points, any future roll of five matching dice triggers the extra Yahtzee bonus. You earn an automatic 100 points, and you still score that turn in a different open category. For example, if you roll five sixes and your Sixes category is still open, you could place the dice there for the sum of the faces (30 points) plus the 100-point bonus, for a total of a few hundred points. If no category fits naturally, you can use Chance to take the sum of all five dice. The key rule: you must score the dice in some category that has not been used yet, and the 100-point bonus is added on top.

Using the Joker Rule

When you roll an extra Yahtzee, the dice can also act as a joker in the lower section. If the corresponding upper section category (for example, Fives if you rolled five fives) has already been filled, you may use the dice as a joker for any lower section category that is still open. This includes Full House, Small Straight, Large Straight, or even Four of a Kind and Three of a Kind. You simply treat the dice as if they were the exact combination needed for that category. You still get the 100-point bonus, plus the points for the category you choose.

Joker Example

Suppose you roll five fours. You have already used your Fours category earlier in the game. The dice can be entered as a Full House (25 points) or as a Large Straight (40 points), among other options. You pick the category that gives you the best score, add the 100-point bonus, and mark that category as used.

Upper Section Bonus and Extra Yahtzees

Scoring 63 or more in the upper section (the sum of all six categories: Ones through Sixes) earns a 35-point bonus. Extra Yahtzee rolls can help you reach that total. If you roll five of a kind and place the dice in the matching upper category, you add five times that face value to your upper section total. Repeated Yahtzees make it much easier to cross the 63-point threshold. The 35-point upper bonus is awarded only once per game, regardless of how many extra Yahtzees you roll.

Comparing Yahtzee to Yatzy and Triple Yahtzee

Different versions of the game handle extra Yahtzees and bonuses in their own ways. Here is a quick look at the main differences:

  • Standard Yahtzee (1956, Edwin S. Lowe): 13 categories, 35-point upper section bonus for 63 or more, 100-point bonus for each extra Yahtzee after the first.
  • Yatzy (Scandinavian version): 15 categories, upper section bonus of 50 points for reaching 63 or more, fixed straight values (small straight 1-2-3-4-5 scores 15, large straight 2-3-4-5-6 scores 20). Extra Yahtzee rules can vary by local rules, but the standard Yatzy does not include the 100-point extra Yahtzee bonus.
  • Triple Yahtzee: Played with three score columns. Each column is worth one, two, and three times its final score. Extra Yahtzee bonuses apply within each column separately, so a single extra Yahtzee can earn 100, a larger, or the largest bonus points depending on which column you place it in.

Strategy for Extra Yahtzees

Since each extra Yahtzee gives a flat 100-point bonus, you want to keep a few categories open late in the game to capture that bonus. The best approach is to fill your upper section categories early, especially if you are rolling many of the same number. That way, when you roll five of a kind later, you can use the joker rule to claim a high-value lower section category like Large Straight (40 points) or Yahtzee itself (if you somehow have not used it yet, though that is rare).

If you have the Yahtzee category already filled, and you roll another Yahtzee, always check which lower categories remain. Full House (25) and Small Straight (30) are common fallbacks. If only Chance and Three of a Kind are open, you might get a better sum by entering the dice as Three of a Kind (sum of all five dice) rather than Chance (also sum of all five dice), but since both use the same sum, it does not matter which you pick. The 100-point bonus is the real prize, so do not worry too much about which category you assign it to.

Where to Try These Rules Online

If you want to practice the extra Yahtzee bonus and joker rules without setting up a physical score sheet, you can play Yahtzee online at yahtzee.now. The site gives you five dice, three rolls, and all 13 categories, plus hints and statistics to track your progress. Daily challenges and multiplayer against friends let you test strategies in real time. It also offers Triple Yahtzee, Yatzy, and other dice games if you want to compare how different rule sets handle bonus Yahtzees.