Tuesday, July 16, 2013

When do I change Dice ?

We all have that guy at the club who is really lucky, he seems to pull a 6 out of the bag just when they are needed and it never matters whether its a low or high score that's required, those scores just keep on coming.

I must have had the same dice now for 10 years, to be honest never really gave them a second thought sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, was it bad generalship or bad dice?
But recently the old favourites seems to be under performing.


By chance I met up with a friend of mine over the weekend who also plays plenty of Golf (how does he find the time whilst painting 000's of 15mm Napoleonic's ???) and we got talking about changing clubs to improve his game, golf is not really my thing but it did lead to an interesting conversation about changing dice, he has thought about this in far more detail than I ever thought possible, he has tried the lot, dropping them in a different way, from a closed fist, rolling them from an open palm, a lucky cup, dropping them on to the table, a dice tray.
Fresh dice, Pearl Dice, Ivory Dice, Gem Dice yet he still seems to get more 1's than 6's.

Now I don't want to over egg this issue but I have sensed a creeping feeling of impending doom every time the dice are rolled recently..... :-)
OK more a nagging doubt..... :-)

When I look at the old dice I remember those low ammo rolls, that Charge that never went in and the Warlord falling over just as he was about to land that fatal blow.

So I made a rash decision, I would buy new dice!


Time will tell if these new dice are any better than the old ones, still 6 sides, still the same size, ok a different cover.

Was it the dice or was it the fact that I needed a shot of confidence in my dice rolling.
As Napoleon said.
  
"I base my calculations on the expectation that luck will be against me"

I wish I could say the same, we all need a little bit of luck don't we?

22 comments:

  1. I changed mine recently, they "feel" better but I have no doubt they to will prove to be disciples of the god of 1!

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    Replies
    1. Your so right Smillie, perhaps I could ebay them for anyone looking for low results.
      Cheers
      Stu

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  2. My mate Russ is philosophic about dice "They all have 6 sides" etc.

    Yet he changes his dice more than anyone else in the group!

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  3. I find I do much better when playing games that use cards.
    Looks as if there are a lot of 1's, 2's and 3's in that picture of your black dice. Hope it is not a bad sign.
    Cheers,
    Pat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Pat that's knocked my confidence already - big help :-)

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  4. I think dice "lose" their luck. In 2009 I was running 4 games at Origins. After the first game, in which each player rolled poorly throughout the game, my son, Brady, went to the Vendor Hall and bought new dice for me. The player all had better luck in the next three games.
    They are still rolling well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So perhaps dice should be sold with a best before date???
      Cheers
      Stu

      Delete
  5. Never had a problem with my die. The odd game when things don't go well, but they've been good to me for 10 years or so now, so not likely to change them!

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    Replies
    1. You just never know Steve when that luck runs out...

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  6. A friend of mine with spectacularly bad dice rolling skills once wrote a song: 'O why do I roll dice the way I do?'; very funny it was too. Good luck with the new ones.

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  7. Brilliant post Stuart, I know a certain chap who refuses to roll with white dice - just unlucky apparently!

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    Replies
    1. I swear people have swapped mine over the years :-)

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  8. So true Stu. Amazing all the odd quirks gamers have associated with dice too. "Don't touch another players dice", etc. I roll bad enough that it doesn't even phase me to roll all one's on a very important roll need 2+.
    Rod

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  9. we tend to share dice at the club I play at. If you are sharing the dice then there can be no shenanigans! Also makes the table less cluttered.

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    Replies
    1. Good point, it might be a hard task getting people to let go.

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  10. Here's something to consider... I recall coming across this somewhere... apparently, dice with rounded corners and the little pips indented, are ever so slightly more likely to roll 1's than 6's... I cant recall the exact rationale, but the rounded corner dice (or 'die') roll more easily and they are more likely to roll until they reach a weighted balance, which apparently favours 1's up and sixes down, presumably something to do the difference in mass due to the indented pips... if you want 'fair' dice get ones with pointed corners and painted on numbers!

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    Replies
    1. Now that would explain a lot Scott.
      Cheers
      Stu

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  11. When you are playing board games or other games using dice, you can choose or pick the best quality dice.

    ReplyDelete