A die or dice (plural dice , from Old French dé , from Latin datum "something given or played") is a small polyhedral object, usually cubic, used for generating random numbers or other symbols. This makes dice suitable as gambling devices, especially for craps or sic bo, or for use in non-gambling tabletop games.
A traditional die is a cube (often with corners slightly rounded), marked on each of its six faces with a different number of circular patches or pits called pips . All of these pips have the same appearance within a set of dice, and are sized for ease of recognizing the pattern formed by the pips on a face. The design as a whole is aimed at each die providing one randomly determined integer, in the range from one to six, with each of those values being equally likely.
More generally, a variety of analogous devices are often described as dice, though the word "dice" used without qualifiers refers to traditional dice by default. Such specialized dice may have cubical or other polyhedral shapes, with faces marked with various collections of symbols, and be used to produce other random results than one through six. There are also "loaded" or "crooked" dice (especially otherwise traditional ones), meant to produce skewed or even predictable results, for purposes of deception or amusement.
Ordinary dice
Common dice are small cubes 1 to 3 cm along an edge (16 mm being the standard), whose faces are numbered from one to six (usually by patterns of dots called pips ). It is traditional to combine pairs of numbers that total seven to opposite faces (it has been since at least classical antiquity); this implies that at one vertex the faces 1, 2 and 3 intersect. It leaves one other abstract design choice: the faces representing 1, 2 and 3 respectively can be placed in either clockwise or counterclockwise order about this vertex. If the 1, 2 and 3 faces run counterclockwise around their common vertex, the die is called "right handed"; if they run clockwise it is called "left handed". Standard modern Western dice are right-handed, whereas Chinese dice are often left-handed.
The pips on traditional European dice are arranged in specific circular patterns. The face with two usually has the dots in opposite corners, with the third face containing one between these two. The fourth face has one in each corner, and the fifth adds one in the center, forming a quincunx. The final face has two rows of three pips along opposite edges of the face. Pips on Asian-style dice are in a similar pattern, but are typically closer to the centre of the die; the "one" pip is larger than the others; and the "one" and "four" pips are coloured red. It is suggested that an entirely black and white color combination on the one side would be unlucky and red (a lucky color in Chinese culture) would counteract this. Several legends also mention that the "four" side is colored red because a Chinese emperor (one legend said it was a Ming dynasty emperor, while another stated it was Chung Tsung) ordered it as "fours" helped him win a dice game (sugoroku) against his empress. This story, however, is questionable at best, as it is also probable that "red fours" are also of common Indian origin. Another reason why the "four" side might be colored red is because in Asian cultures, the number four is seen as unlucky, like the number thirteen in Western culture, and as mentioned before, it is colored red so that the luckiness of the red counteracts the unluckiness of the four.
Dice are thrown to provide random numbers for gambling and other games, and thus are a type of hardware random number generator. The result of a die roll is random in the sense of lacking predictability, not lacking cause. Exactly how dice are thrown determines how they will land according to the laws of classical mechanics. However, dice also can exhibit sensitive dependence on initial conditions, making it difficult to predict the outcome of a die roll even with good information about exactly how it is thrown. Some people claim that the pips on the face of certain styles of dice can cause a small bias, but there is no research to support this claim. The bias is reduced somewhat in the Japanese die with its oversized single pip (pictured). Casino dice have markings that are flush, offering the assurance that this brings them very close to providing true uniformly distributed random numbers.
Dice are thrown, singly or in groups, from the hand or from a cup or box designed for the purpose, onto a flat surface. The face of each die that is uppermost when it comes to rest provides the value of the throw. A typical dice game today is craps, wherein two dice are thrown at a time, and wagers are made on the total value of up-facing pips on the two dice. They are also frequently used to randomize allowable moves in board games, usually by deciding the distance through which a piece will move along the board; examples of this are ludo and backgammon.
Precision dice
Precision casino dice, used for the game of craps, may have a polished finish, making them transparent, or a sand finish, making them translucent. Casino dice have their pips drilled, and then filled flush with a paint of the same density as the acetate used for the dice, such that the dice remain in balance. In casino play, a stick of 5 dice are used, all stamped with a matching serial number to prevent a cheat from substituting a die.
Precision backgammon dice are also made with the pips filled in as with casino dice. While casino dice are noticeably larger than common dice, with sharp edges and corners, precision backgammon dice tend to be somewhat smaller. Their corners and edges are rounded to allow greater movement inside the dice cup and prevent chaotic rolls from damaging the playing surface.
Computer generated dice
Some computer games, such as clones of board games, must use computer generated dice. The values are usually determined by a random number generator, then displayed as a visual representation of a die. Some sites which show examples of computer generated random dice are GoTinker and random.org
History
Dice have been used throughout Asia since before recorded history.
The oldest known dice were excavated as part of a 5000-year-old backgammon set, at the Burnt City archeological site in south-eastern Iran.
Excavations from ancient tombs in the Harappan civilization, seem to further indicate a South Asian origin. Dicing is mentioned as an Indian game in the Rig Veda , Atharva Veda and Buddha games list. It is also mentioned in the great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, where Yudhisthira plays a game of dice against the Kauravas for the northern kingdom of Hastinapura. In its primitive form knucklebones was essentially a game of skill played by women and children. In a derivative form of knucklebones, the four sides of the bones received different values and were counted as with modern dice. Gambling with three or sometimes two dice was a very popular form of amusement in Greece, especially with the upper classes, and was an almost invariable accompaniment to symposia.
Dice were probably originally made from the ankle bones (specifically the talus or "astragalus") of hoofed animals (such as oxen), colloquially known as "knucklebones", which are approximately tetrahedral. Modern Mongolians still use such bones, known as shagai, for games and fortunetelling. In addition to bone, ivory, wood, metal, and stone materials have been commonly used. Recently, the use of plastics, including cellulose acetate and Bakelite, is nearly universal. It is almost impossible to trace clearly the development of dice as distinguished from knucklebones, because ancient writers confused the two. It is certain, however, that both were used in prehistoric times.There are several biblical references to "casting lots", as in Psalm 22, indicating that it had become commonplace in the region as of the time of King David. In its primitive form knucklebones was essentially a game of skill played by women and children. In a derivative form of knucklebones, the four sides of the bones received different values and were counted as with modern dice. Gambling with three or sometimes two dice was a very popular form of amusement in Greece, especially with the upper classes, and was an almost invariable accompaniment to symposia.
The Romans were passionate gamblers, especially in the luxurious days of the Roman Empire, and dicing was a favorite form, though it was forbidden except during the Saturnalia. Horace derided what he presented as a typical youth of the period, who wasted his time amid the dangers of dicing instead of taming his charger and giving himself up to the hardships of the chase. Throwing dice for money was the cause of many special laws in Rome. One of t
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