Shake, Rattle, and Roll Trivia Quiz

Answer: 42

Pips are the small colored (usually) dots on each side of a die. Opposite sides of a die will always add up to a value of seven. In other words, six will always be opposite one and two will always be opposite five. Each die will have 21 pips and a pair of dice would have 42. Dice and mathematics are intimately entwined.

Answer: True

Asian-style and Western-style dice are similar but not exactly the same. The numbers one, two, and three share a vertex. If the numbers are found in a clockwise order, the dice are said to be left-handed and vice-versa. Western dice are usually right-handed while Asian dice are usually left-handed.

This does not affect the dice in any way other than appearance and either style can be used when playing games.

Answer: Craps

Craps is a gambling dice game that is played in virtually every casino in the world. Players place bets on the outcome of an upcoming roll of a pair of dice. Wagers can be placed against the bank or against another player. The unusual name comes from the French word 'crapaud'.

This word means 'toad' and was descriptive of the crouched position in which people would play with dice in the streets. This game has a language all its own and if you decide you might want to play, it is advisable to watch for a lengthy period of time to learn the rules as well as the slang.

Answer: Unbalanced dice used for cheating

Loaded dice are sometimes called crooked dice, a reference to the fact that the sides are not equal and balanced. This is done to favor some results over others. The roll of a pair of dice should always result in a random number. Cheaters will attempt to influence this outcome by shaving one side of the die or by implanting a hidden weight inside the die.

It is for this reason that most casinos will not allow anyone to bring in their own dice.

Answer: It was invented on a yacht

Games very similar to Yahtzee have been played for thousands of years using a variety of other names. Hasbro claims the game was invented by an anonymous Canadian couple who played the game while on a yacht. They called it "The Yacht Game" and the name was changed to Yahtzee when the company used their idea.

There are many similar dice games such as Cheerio, Poker Dice, Crag, and Yacht.

Answer: Red

On a pair of Western-style dice, the pips are usually black. On an Asian-style pair the numbers one and four will be red, while the rest are black. This is because it is believed that black and white together without another color can cause bad luck. Red is used because it is the color of good luck. Fours are red because in Chinese the word for 'four' is a homophone for the word for 'death' and the red is used to counteract this connection.

Answer: False

Dice can have many sides, usually even in number. Found in some game and hobby stores, a zocchihedron is a 100-sided dice that can be used in a variety of games. In 2011, The British Museum in London displayed a pair of ancient Roman icosahedral dice which have 20 sides each. The popular game 'Scattergories' makes use of an icosahedral die.

Answer: Saturnalia

Gambling with dice has been popular since before written time. In ancient Rome it was illegal to gamble with dice at any time other than during Saturnalia. During this carnival, many vices were indulged in which were banned at any other time of year. Gambling with dice was such a problem during this time that many laws were enacted. Being a professional gambler was a common line of work although it was synonymous with being of low morals.

Many Italian museums have displays ancient dice which are almost invariably shaved.

The other three options are all ancient Mayan cities.

Answer: Cleromancy

Cleromancy has been practiced for centuries and was very popular amongst Tibetan Buddhists. The biblical term 'the casting of lots' is believed to be a form of cleromancy. As many early dice were made from naturally occurring sources, such as stone and bone, it was believed that some dice were endowed with magical abilities to foretell the future.

Answer: A pair of ones

'Snake Eyes' is the term for rolling a pair of ones or aces as they are called in some parts of the world. A pair of sixes are called 'boxcars', and 'Little Joe' is a pair of fours. There is a lot of slang, myths, and mathematics to playing with dice. But in the end, as long as you are playing with a fair pair of dice, the number rolled will be random.