Dice and Dice Games

Dice and Dice Games, small cubes, usually made of bone or plastic, with variously marked faces; and the games of chance in which they are used. The most common form of marking dice is to number the faces with dots from one to six. The six faces of poker dice are marked to resemble playing cards, with an ace, king, queen, jack, ten, and nine. Dice have been used since antiquity and probably originated in Asia. Dice marked with dots have been recovered from Egyptian tombs, and Greek and Roman literature contain many references to dice playing. Many ancient cultures played with dice made of various materials and in various shapes and sizes. Animal bones, fruit pits, seeds, and pottery all served as materials for dice.

In play, dice are thrown from the player's hand or from a dice cup, and the total number of dots showing on the top of the dice at rest determines the value of the throw. The most popular dice game in the United States is craps, a form of the old English game of hazard. It is played with two dice. In craps the thrower makes a money bet that is covered by one or more opponents. If the first throw totals 7 or 11, the player wins, but if 2, 3, or 12 is thrown, the player loses. In any of these cases betting and throwing are repeated. If the throw totals 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, or 10, that number becomes the player's point, and throwing is continued until the same point is made again or a 7 is thrown. If the point is made, the player wins, but if a 7 is thrown, the player loses both the bet and the right to throw again. The aim of the game of poker dice, which is played with five dice, is to build up a winning poker hand in three or fewer throws. A number of variations of the game of poker dice are also played, including liar dice. In this game the player does not show the throw to the opponents, but announces either its true value or another value in an attempt to bluff—as in poker—before the throws are disclosed.

Dice are also used in the play of other games, such as backgammon and Parcheesi. Multi-sided dice, with as many as 20 or more sides, were developed to increase the number of possible outcomes. These dice are especially popular in fantasy role-playing games.