d with
unmarked dice, and allowed the cubes to fall through a kind of funnel
upon a board marked off into six equal parts numbered from 1 to 6. It is
a remarkable fact, that, wherever dice have been found, whether in the
tombs of ancient Egypt, of classic Greece, or of the far East, they
differ in no material respect from those in use to-day, the elongated
ones with rounded ends found in Roman graves having been, not dice but
_tali_, or knucklebones. Eight-sided dice have comparatively lately been
introduced in France as aids to children in learning the multiplication
table. The teetotum, or spinning die, used in many modern games, was
known in ancient times in China and Japan. The increased popularity of
the more elaborate forms of gaming has resulted in the decline of
dicing. The usual method is to throw three times with three dice. If one
or more sixes or fives are thrown the first time they may be reserved,
the other throws being made with the dice that are left. The object is
to throw three sixes = 18 or as near that number as possible, the
highest throw winning, or, when drinks are to be paid for, the lowest
throw losing. (For other methods of throwing consult the _Encyclopaedia
of Indoor Games_, by R. F. Foster, 1903.) The most popular form of pure
gambling with dice at the present day, particularly with the lower
classes in America, is _Craps_, or _Crap-Shooting_, a simple form of
_Hazard_, of French origin. Two dice are used. Each player puts up a
stake and the first caster may cover any or all of the bets. He then
_shoots_, i.e. throws the dice from his open hand upon the table. If the
sum of the dice is 7 or 11 the throw is a _nick_, or _natural_, and the
caster wins all stakes. If the throw is either 2, 3 or 12 it is a
_crap_, and the caster loses all. If any other number is thrown it is a
_point_, and the caster continues until he throws the same number again,
in which case he wins, or a 7, in which case he loses. The now
practically obsolete game of Hazard was much more complicated than
_Craps_. (Consult _The Game of Hazard Investigated_, by George Lowbut.)
_Poker dice_ are marked with ace, king, queen, jack and ten-spot. Five
are used and the object is, in three throws, to make pairs, triplets,
full hands or fours and fives of a kind, five aces being the highest
hand. Straights do not count. In throwing to decide the payment of
drinks the usual method is called _horse and horse_, in which the
highest throw