Midnight Dice Game Rules: How to Play 1-4-24
Nov 10, 2026 · The Editors
How to play Midnight (1-4-24), the six-dice bar game: qualifying with a one and a four, keeping dice each roll, scoring up to 24, ties, and a simple strategy.
Midnight is a quick dice game played with six dice, also known as 1-4-24 or Fours and Ones. You need a one and a four to qualify, and then the other four dice are your score — the best possible is 24, all sixes, which is "midnight". A round takes a minute, which is why it has long been played in bars.
What you need
- Six standard dice and something to roll them in (a cup or a tray).
- Players: two or more. There is no upper limit, but every extra player adds a minute.
How to play Midnight
- Roll all six dice.
- Keep at least one die. After every roll you must set aside at least one die. You may set aside more. Dice you keep stay kept.
- Roll the rest and repeat, until all six dice have been kept. That takes at most six rolls.
- Check that you qualify. Among your six kept dice you need a one and a four. Without both, you score nothing ("no score" or "bust").
- Score the other four dice. If you qualify, add up the four dice that are not your one and four. That total, from 4 to 24, is your score.
The highest score wins the round. If two or more players tie for the top, they roll again in a sudden-death playoff, or split the stakes if your group prefers.
Midnight dice game: example
You roll 6, 6, 4, 2, 3, 1. You keep the 4 and the 1 (now qualified) and both 6s. You roll the last two dice: 5 and 2. You keep the 5 and roll the last die: a 6. Your four scoring dice are 6, 6, 5, 6 = 23.
Strategy: what to keep
- Keep a one and a four as soon as you see them. Without them nothing else matters.
- Keep sixes freely. A six is the best a scoring die can be.
- Do not keep low dice early. If you must keep only one die and you have no one, four or six, keep the highest — but remember that the more dice you hold back, the fewer chances you leave yourself to find the one and four.
- Know the target. If the score to beat is low, qualifying is all that matters; if someone has 22, you will need to gamble.
Because you can keep as few as one die per roll, a careful player gets several chances at the one and the four. The real game is how much you risk chasing sixes.
Midnight vs other dice games
| Game | Dice | Goal |
|---|---|---|
| Midnight (1-4-24) | 6 | Qualify with 1 and 4, then the highest total |
| Ship, captain and crew | 5 | Roll 6, 5, 4 in order, then the highest cargo |
| Farkle | 6 | Score combinations, push your luck to a target |
| Threes | 5 | Lowest total, with threes counting zero |
Six dice and a cup
Most dice cups come with five dice, which suits poker dice but not Midnight or Farkle. Our six-dice cup set has the full six and a felt lining, so a round at the table stays quiet.
