How to Play the Three Man Drinking Game

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Rules and variations of the dice game

Co-authored by Hunter Rising

Last Updated: August 15, 2024 Fact Checked

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Three Man Rules

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Variations

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Dice Roll Probabilities

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Video

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Tips

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Warnings

If you’re looking for a quick and easy drinking game to play before a night out with friends, 3 Man is perfect and you only need a couple of dice. We’ll walk you through all the rules and variations to try.

3 Man Dice Game

Choose a player to be the “3 Man” at the start of the game.
Take turns rolling 2 dice, and follow the rules based on the result:
- 3 on any die or sum of 3: The 3 Man takes a drink. If the 3 Man rolls any 3 or a sum of 3, they don’t drink and choose someone else to be the new 3 Man.
- Sum of 7: The person to the right of the roller drinks.
- Sum of 9: The person across from the roller drinks.
- Sum of 10: Everybody drinks (also known as a “social”)
- Sum of 11: The person to the left of the roller drinks.
- Doubles: Give both dice to someone else, they roll and take the number of sips showing on their dice

Section 1 of 3:

3 Man Drinking Game Rules

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1
Choose a player to be the first “3 Man.” Three Man works best if you have at least 3 people to play with, but there’s no limit to how many players can get involved. Choose the first 3 Man randomly or take turns rolling a die until someone gets a 3.^{[1]
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- Give the 3 Man a special hat, piece of jewelry, or another noticeable piece of clothing to signify their role even more.
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Roll 2 dice and follow the rules based on the result. Start with the player sitting to the left of the 3 Man. Check the roll to see if there are any special rules tied to the result. If the roll doesn’t have a rule tied to it, then the dice go to the next player to the left.^{[2]
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- 3 on any die or sum of 3: The 3 Man takes a drink. If the 3 Man rolls any 3 or a sum of 3, they don’t have to drink and may choose someone else to be the new 3 Man.
- Sum of 7: The person to the right of the roller drinks.
- Sum of 9: The person across from the roller drinks.
- Sum of 10: Everybody drinks (also known as a “social”)
- Sum of 11: The person to the left of the roller drinks.
- Doubles: Give both dice to 1 player, or split them between 2 players. Whoever has the dice rolls them. The roller has to sip the number of times showing on their dice. If the result is another set of doubles, the original roller drinks instead.
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End the game whenever you want. There’s no official way to end the game, so stop after everyone has finished their drinks or after a set number of rounds. Otherwise, keep playing as long as you’re having a good time.
- If you notice someone has been the 3 Man for a long time, try switching the role after they’ve had to drink a total of 9 times so they don’t have too much alcohol.

Section 2 of 3:

Variations

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1
Drink if you roll the dice off the table. If you accidentally roll the dice and they fall off the table, it’s considered a “party foul” and comes with a penalty drink.^{[3]
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- If another player shouts, “Sloppy jalopy!” after the dice hit the ground, then the person who dropped the dice becomes the new 3 Man.
Whenever someone rolls a 1 and 4, they are the new Thumb Master. At any point during the game, the Thumb Master can place their thumb against the table. Everyone else has to put their thumb on the table and the last person to do it has to drink.^{[4]
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3
Create custom rules for different dice rolls. In this variation, whenever you roll doubles, you also can set a new rule players have to follow when they roll a specific result. Set easier rules for common rolls like 6 or 7, but add harsher penalties for tough rolls like 2 or 12. Some fun custom rules you can try out include:
- Finish your drink whenever you roll a 2.
- Take a sip and then take another turn if you roll a 6.
- Nominate a different player to drink if you roll an even number.
- Take turns saying sentences with rhyming last words when you roll a 9. Whoever misses a rhyme drinks.
- Take turns naming items in a specific category when you roll a 10. Anyone who can't think of something or names an incorrect object has to drink.
If someone gets up to go to the bathroom and it’s their turn to roll the dice, start timing them on how long it takes for them to get back. For every 5 seconds, they have to take 1 sip of their drink.

Section 3 of 3:

Dice Roll Probabilities

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7s are the most common result when you roll 2 dice. There are 36 possible results when you roll 2 dice.^{[5]
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Research source} Your chances of rolling a 7 are higher because it has the most combinations (1,6; 2,5; and 3,4). The most difficult rolls are 2s and 12s. The probabilities that you’ll roll a specific result are:
- 2: 1/36 or 2.778%
- 3: 2/36 or 5.556%
- 4: 3/36 or 8.333%
- 5: 4/36 or 11.111%
- 6: 5/36 or 13.889%
- 7: 6/36 or 16.667%
- 8: 5/36 or 13.889%
- 9: 4/36 or 11.111%
- 10: 3/36 or 8.333%
- 11: 2/36 or 5.556%
- 12: 1/36 or 2.778%

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Tips

It's recommended that you only have 1-2 drinks in a day.^{[6]
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Research source} A standard drink size is 12 fluid ounces (350 ml) of beer, 8 fluid ounces (240 ml) of malt liquor, 5 fluid ounces (150 ml) of wine, 1 ¹⁄₂ fluid ounces (44 ml) of liquor.^{[7]
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Main public health institute for the US, run by the Dept. of Health and Human Services

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Warnings

Only drink if you’re the legal drinking age or older for your area.

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Drink responsibly. Be sure to plan transportation, pace yourself, and sip on water between drinks.

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