Dice
History, Evolution, Alternatives, Odds, Cheating, Types, etc.
History
Dice are man's oldest gambling device. Modern-looking dice from 1500BC have
been found in the tombs of Egypt; and dice of one sort or another have been
found in the tombs of the Orient, and in the prehistoric graves of both North
and South America.
The earliest gamblers thought that the fall of the dice was controlled by the gods, and, although a few of them tried to outwit divinity by loading the cubes, most of them probably considered that any prying into the matter was sacrilegious.
In the 16th century at least one gambler began to wonder whether the scientists, who were beginning to make valid predictions about other matters, might not also be able to foretell how the dice would fall. An Italian noble asked Galileo why the combination 10 showed up more often than 9, when three dice were thrown. The great astronomer then became interested in dice problems, and wrote a short treatise which set forth some of the first probability theorems. His reply to the gambler was that a total of 216 combinations (6 x 6 x 6) can be made with three dice, of which twenty-seven form the 10, and twenty-five form the number 9.
In France, in 1654, the philosopher, mathematician and physicist, Blaise Pascal, was asked a similar dice question by one of the first gambler-hustlers on record. The Chevalier de Mere had been winning consistently, by betting even money that a six would come up at least once in four rolls with a single die. He reasoned from this that he would also have an advantage, when he bet even money that a double-six would come up at least once in 24 rolls with two dice. But he had been losing money on this proposition, and he wanted to know the reason. Pascal worked on the problem, and found that the Chevalier had had the edge by 3.549% with his single-die proposition. To throw a double-six with two dice, however, would theoretically require 24.6 rolls. In practice, it can never be an even money bet, because a pair of dice cannot be rolled a fractional number of times; it has to be either 24 or 25 rolls. Therefore, to bet even money that a double-six would come up at least once in 24 rolls with two dice is not a sound proposition. Pascal corresponded with mathematician Pierre Fermat about this and similar gambling problems, and these two men formulated much of the basic mathematics on the theory of probability.
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Casting objects to see how they will fall has universally fascinated man. In ancient India one prince wagered his kingdom and his wife at dice, and lost. Nero played happily for the equivalent of $15,000 a throw; and once, King Henry VIII of England staked - and lost - the bells of old St Paul's church. |
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Casting must have begun with common objects such as stones and shells. The Indian game of Pachisi is still played with six cowrie shells, scored by which way up they fall. Later the anklebones of sheep were used as four-sided dice. These led to the cubic dice of the ancient Etruscans. In Asia divination sticks led to the 'long dice' still used in some Eastern games. These have from two to six sides, and are rolled rather than tumbled. Another Eastern type is the 'teetotum', or spinning die. Unusual dice of ancient and mediaeval times include many-sided dice, and dice marked on small carved figures of animals or men. |
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A standard modern die is a regular cube, with the six sides numbered with dots from 1 through 6. Any two opposing sides add up to 7. The 5 is to the left of the 3, when the 6 is uppermost. |
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If you don't have dice: a) dot a sugar cube with ink; b) scratch lines on a pencil's six sides, and roll it; c) make a 'spinning die' from a pencil and card; d) divide a sheet of paper into six numbered areas, and throw any object to see where it falls. |
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With one true die, each face has an equal chance of landing face up. With two dice thrown together, some scores are more likely than others, because there are more ways in which they can be made. |
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Mankind's earliest written records mention not only dice and dice games, but crooked dice as well. Cheating includes weighted, distorted, and mis-spotted dice; tampered edges; false throws; and sleight of hand. |
 Standard die |
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In more modern times several games have evolved, for which specially marked dice have been designed. |
 Poker die |
 Letter die example |
Among the best known are Crown and Anchor and Poker dice. There are also word games, which require dice stamped with letters on the faces. |
Adapted from 'The Official World Encyclopedia of Sports and Games'
© Diagram Visual Information Ltd 1979
