Poker News and Poker Games

Card Game Strategy Guide for Players

Download software and play games of Omaha, Texas No Limit, Seven Card Stud, and take part in Freeroll Qualifiers!

Poker is a great game for players of all ages. Become a better player by learning about the history of the game, the players, and major tournaments. Interesting facts, trivia, and tidbits about the game. Practice your skills online in free games and use the interactive trainer to improve your game at Party Poker and play for great prizes, cash, tournament entries, or even just for the fun of it! It's free to sign up and start playing today!


Dice

Dice (the plural of the word die, probably from the Latin dare: to give) are, in general, small polyhedral objects with the faces marked with numbers or other symbols, thrown in order to choose one of the faces randomly.

The most common dice are small cubes 1-2 cm across, whose faces are numbered from one to six (usually by patterns of dots), with opposite sides totalling seven. Numbers 1, 2 and 3 can be set either in clockwise or in counterclockwise direction.

In Unicode, the faces of common cubical dice are ⚀ ⚁ ⚂ ⚃ ⚄ ⚅.

Dice are thrown to provide (supposedly uniformly distributed) random numbers for gambling and other games (and thus are a type of hardware random number generator); however, because the edges of typical dice are often rounded, they do not provide "true" random numbers. Casino dice come the closest to true uniformly distributed random numbers.

Dice are thrown, singly or in groups, from the hand or from a cup or box designed for the purpose, onto a flat surface. The face of each die that is uppermost when it comes to rest provides the value of the throw. A typical dice game today is craps, wherein two dice are thrown at a time, and wagers are made on the total value of up-facing spots on the two dice. They are also frequently used to randomize allowable moves in board games such as Backgammon.

"Loaded" or "gaffed" dice can be made in many ways to cheat at such games. Weights can be added, or some edges made round while others are sharp, or some faces made slightly off-square, to make some outcomes more likely than would be predicted by pure chance. Dice used in casinos are often transparent to make loading more difficult.

In cooking, to dice means to chop into small cubes, in allusion to the dice used in games.

History

Dice probably evolved from knucklebones, which are approximately tetrahedral. Even today, dice are sometimes colloquially referred to as "bones", as in "shake them bones". Ivory, bone, wood, metal, and stone materials have been commonly used, though the use of plastics is now nearly universal. It is almost impossible to trace clearly the development of dice as distinguished from knucklebones, on account of the confusing of the two games by the ancient writers. It is certain, however, that both were played in times antecedent to those of which we possess any written records.

The fact that dice have been used throughout the Orient from time immemorial, as has been proved by excavations from ancient tombs, seems to point clearly to an Asiatic origin. Dicing is mentioned as an Indian game in the Rig-veda. In its primitive form knucklebones was essentially a game of skill played by women and children. In a derivative form of knucklebones, the four sides of the bones received different values and were counted as with modern dice. Gambling with three or sometimes two dice was a very popular form of amusement in Greece, especially with the upper classes, and was an almost invariable accompaniment to banquets (symposium).

The Romans were passionate gamblers, especially in the luxurious days of the Roman Empire, and dicing was a favourite form, though it was forbidden except during the Saturnalia. Horace derided the youth of the period, who wasted his time amid the dangers of dicing instead of taming his charger and giving himself up to the hardships of the chase. Throwing dice for money was the cause of many special laws in Rome. One of these stated that no suit could be brought by a person who allowed gambling in his house, even if he had been cheated or assaulted. Professional gamblers were common, and some of their loaded dice are preserved in museums. The common public-houses were the resorts of gamblers, and a fresco is extant showing two quarrelling dicers being ejected by the indignant host.

Tacitus states that the Germans were passionately fond of dicing, so much so, indeed, that, having lost everything, they would even stake their personal liberty. Centuries later, during the middle ages, dicing became the favourite pastime of the knights, and both dicing schools and guilds of dicers existed. After the downfall of feudalism the famous German mercenaries called landsknechts established a reputation as the most notorious dicing gamblers of their time. Many of the dice of the period were curiously carved in the images of men and beasts. In France both knights and ladies were given to dicing. This persisted through repeated legislation, including interdictions on the part of St. Louis in 1254 and 1256.

In Japan, China, Korea, India, and other Asiatic countries, dice have always been popular and are so still. The markings on Chinese dominoes evolved from the markings on dice, taken two at a time.

Other kinds of dice

Non-cubical dice

Dice with non-cubical shapes were once almost exclusively used by fortune-tellers and in other occult practices, but they have become popular lately among players of roleplaying games and wargames.

Such dice are typically plastic, and have faces bearing numerals rather than patterns of dots. Reciprocally symmetric numerals are distinguished with a dot in the lower right corner (6. vs 9.) or by being underlined (6 vs 9).

The platonic solids are commonly used to make dice of 4, 6, 8, 12, and 20 faces; other shapes can be found to make dice with 10, 30, and other numbers of faces. (See Zocchihedron and polyhedral dice).

Dice with various numbers of faces are often described by their numbers of sides, with a d6 being a six-sided die, a d10 a ten-sided die, and so forth.



Directory of Poker Resources

  • PartyPoker - Free software download and join players from around the world for games of Texas Holdem, Omaha, and Seven-Card Stud! Also play Video Poker, Blackjack, Slots and Progressive Jackpot Slots - all from the account.

  • FullTiltPoker - Learn the game from the professionals...free software download and great tips and hints available to improve your game and tournament skills.

  • 888Casino - Features free download of your favorite games including BlackJack, Single Zero Roulette, Craps, Baccarat, Keno, Caribbean Poker, Pai Gow Poker, and nearly 2 dozen different Video Poker and Slot Machines; including Classic and Progressive with an ever-growing Jackpot!

  • CarnivalCasino - Play online games and slots with free software download available online.

  • CDPoker - CDPoker offers free download of online games software to play great card games online.

  • PeachCasino - Play games online - free software available to download and start playing online games at home.

  • PokerHost - Download free games software and start playing great online games today!

  • NoblePoker - Free games software download for great games, card games and gaming available online.

  • MonacoGold - Monaco Gold offers free gaming software and download setup available for online games and gaming activities.

  • ClubDiceCasino - Throw dice at the club with great online games. Free software download available online.

    All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
    Source: Original text from the article in Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.







  • Learning to Play Online

    Step One - The first step to learning how to play poker is easy... practice, practice, practice.
    If you've watched many tournaments on the TV, then you already know that many of the players got their start and learned skills by playing online. This is a great opportunity for you to learn how to play and improve your skills!

    Step Two - Practice may not make you perfect, but taking poker lessons with Party Poker's poker school will improve your odds greatly. As you become more familiar with pot odds and good starting hands, you will see your game improve.

    Step Three - By setting up a PartyPoker account for free, it's safe, simple, and secure...play as little or as often as you like! Games are being played around the clock...

    Step Four - Always have fun! Online playing features many great tournaments and prize package games. Build up bonues, play heads up or against a group, or join in the excitement of online tournament play!! !


    Free Poker Games
    A collection of internet games available which allow players to play poker games with other players.
    Free games and tournaments available.
    Go to
    Download Free Software

    Want to Find Free Catalogs?
    If you wish to find great magazines, then search the catalogs for clothes, recreation, and household items.
    Go to Free Catalogs Available

    Discover the secrets of the game from the professional players themselves! Start improving your skills today.
    Learn from the Pros


    Shop eBay Today!
    ebay

    Looking for a great bargain? Search the millions of products available on eBay where you will find great prices!
    Discover for yourself how easy it is to get started!

    Join eBay today!

    ebay

    A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

    Online Games Digest | Free Catalogs | Arkansas | Free Stuff | Affiliates | Findlings | Careers

    Learn poker game skills, poker playing tips, hints for poker players, and rules for playing poker online, at poker homegames, or in a gaming cardroom.

    Poker News Archives


    Learn how poker players got started, learn how poker tournaments are run, learn how pot odds work, and learn how online poker game freerolls work.