Rolling the Dice: Top 8 Astonishing Fun Facts You Never Knew About Dice

1. Doubles Delight: A Statistical Smorgasbord

The dice must be seasoned with a pinch of snake eyes and a dash of boxcars in this statistical smorgasbord: the chance you'll feast upon a serving of doubles when rolling two six-sided dice is 1 in 6, amounting to a 16.67% probability of ending up with a perfectly paired dish of numerals.
Source => jdmeducational.com

2. Ancient Dice: Rolling Through Millennia

Rolling through the millennia like an ancient game of craps: Dice have been around for ages, with the oldest confirmed dice dating back to around 3000 BCE, discovered in a dig site in Turkey alongside fellow ancient game pieces. This rich history of our dicey ancestors spans across various legendary civilizations, including the likes of ancient Egypt, Sumeria, and China.
Source => awesomedice.com

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=> Fun Facts about Board-Games

3. Snake Eyes: Origins of Dice Lingo

If you've ever wondered why your pet snake gives you the side-eye when you bring out the dice, it's got everything to do with history, gambling, and a touch of bad luck: The term "snake eyes" refers to rolling two 1 pips on each die, signaling an unfortunate outcome and dates back to the early 20th century gambling culture, along with other phrases like "boxcars" for double 6 pips and "midnight" which also means rolling boxcars.
Source => happypiranha.com

4. King Henry VIII: The Tudor High Roller

When King Henry VIII wasn't busy marrying and dispatching wives, he was rolling in the Tudor casino of life: Henry was not only an avid gambler but enjoyed games such as the old version of backgammon called "Tables," and betted on jousting tournaments and archery competitions. Interestingly, he prohibited his soldiers from participating in gambling activities to keep their focus on his military campaigns, all the while maintaining close relations with London bookmakers and debating on the virtues of gambling in court with Parliament.
Source => gamblingsites.org

5. Gambling Pals: Birth of Probability Theory

Here's one for the high rollers: Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat, the mathematicians who put the "fun" in "functions," crunched some serious numbers back in the 17th century after a gambling buddy just couldn't ace it with dice. Turns out, these two laid the very foundations of probability theory, which still influences modern betting strategies today! Not a bad outcome for one guy's losing streak, eh?
Source => cut-the-knot.org

6. Casino Glow Spots: Lady Luck's Secret Agents

In a world of dicey decisions and rolling the odds, Lady Luck isn't the only one keeping a watchful eye on the table: enter, casino Glow Spots! These nifty luminous dots save the day by secretly changing colors under ultra-violet light, helping floor managers effortlessly detect the legitimacy of dice and oust potential cheaters from their midst – because even Lady Luck has a strict no-cheating policy!
Source => tcsjohnhuxley.com

7. Roman Dice: Gaming with the Gods

When in Rome, you better pray to Lady Luck: ancient Roman dice, or tesserae, were intentionally designed with uneven sides to encourage divine intervention in games, as their focus was on fate rather than statistical probability. This spiritual approach to gaming persisted until the Renaissance, when mathematics and chance started influencing gameplay.
Source => zmescience.com

8. Zocchihedra: The 120-Sided Behemoth

Rolling with the big boys: In the fantastical world of polyhedral dice, the truly mighty wield the Zocchihedra, a baffling behemoth boasting 120 sides. Funky and alluring in its complexity, this improbable cube's sibling adds layers of intrigue to role-playing games and makes for a borderline-obsessive collectible.
Source => news.ycombinator.com