Greedy Pig Dice Game for Practicing Probability

I learned how to play the greedy pig dice game from my cooperating teacher at the middle school level who learned it at a workshop.  Since becoming aware of this game, I’ve seen various versions floating around the internet. 

As part of my probability unit with my 8^th graders after the OCCT, my cooperating teacher suggested that I spend one day playing this. 

The goal of the greedy pig dice game is to score the most points possible.  Points are scored by rolling a single die.  Each time the die is rolled, you must add the number on the die to the sum of your previous rolls.  (This game provides students an awesome opportunity to practice their mental math skills.)  A player can roll the die as many times as they wish.  However, if a 1 is rolled, the player’s score goes to zero.  If this happens, you become known as a “greedy pig.”  Whenever you are happy with your score, you may choose to stop.

We had students play in groups of four with one student both playing and serving as the scorekeeper. Students were competing to earn both the highest score per round and the highest score of the class period. A round consisted of each player in the group taking one turn.

This game taught me to appreciate the existence of foam dice.  They are silent.  They are much less likely to go flying off the desks at every turn.  My students enjoyed playing the game with the larger foam dice.

Even though we discussed the probability of rolling a 1 on a standard die, many students still mistakenly believed that the probability of rolling a 1 increased with each roll of the die.

This game provided students with excellent, much-needed mental math practice, sparked many excellent conversations about probability, and made for a relaxing class period the day after taking the state math test.

Variation of the Greedy Pig Dice Game

Other versions of this game feature a single roller for the die.  To begin, the entire class stands up.  When students are happy with their score, they sit down.  When a 1 is rolled, any students who are standing receive the score of zero and are “greedy pigs.”