Dice Are Just Dice... Right? - Yahtzee Kit

  I could sit here a write some pompous claptrap (and might at some point) about how the BHO only accepts regulation precision dice, and any other dice are unacceptable. But come on, who are we kidding? None of you are gonna do that are you? And nor should you. Take a seat for a minute, get comfy and let me tell you a teeny tiny story.

  I've been playing Yahtzee, on and off, for about 15 years. I accrued a large collection of dice. However, I stopped playing for a good amount of time. There was a huge gap in between. It was during this time the family moved house and all my dice got lost along the way. So when I decided to pick it back up, naturally I needed some new ones. I took myself to the local tabletop gaming store and bought a cheap pack of black dice with gold pips for 3 quid. I thought, "three quid? They'll do for now". But it turns out, I loved them. 

  Not long after, I happened to show a certain tattooed runt how to play Yahtzee (Lee). He took his knowledge home with him and everyone started playing. Then we all got together and started the league. The BHO was still just a glint in your narrator's eye, but things were getting slightly more formal than they were.

  The thing you have to know about me, if you hadn't already guessed, is that if I do something, I like to do it right. I was convinced that you can't be playing any kind of Yahtzee championship with some three quid dice, as much as I liked them. I needed dice that were extravagant, dice that fit the occasion and gave the league the respect it deserved.

  As previously stated, I have been playing dice (in any form, not just Yahtzee) for well over a decade and I have long since known about the existence of precision dice. I have always wanted some. If you have a thing for dice, which you probably don't, but I'm quirky and I do, precision ar where it's at. There's only on problem though. They're bloody expensive! Precision dice are perfectly weighted on all six sides, so in theory, totally random.

  I waited patiently (I am by no means wealthy, quite the opposite), I had to convince my wife, who is as tight as a duck's arse, usually with good reason. But eventually, I got my way. Shamefully, I'm a bit of a man child and I tend to get what I want. So I got my hands on some.

  Now as I said these things weren't cheap, and I wasn't lying. All in all, six of these dice (they come in pairs) cost me just under 54 quid. I know. Obscene. What's worse though, is that after playing with them for a few games... I hated them. I just couldn't get along with them.

  Let me be clear, the precision dice I bought are fine dice, beautifully made and very precise. So quality isn't the issue. They just don't feel right. It's difficult to explain why I wasn't happy with them, but I wasn't happy with them. So what do I do? I've blown 54 quid on these bloody things and I would almost certainly feel the wrath of my long suffering wife if she didn't see me using them. Well, I did the only sensible thing I could think of. I went back to my trusty 3 quid set, put the precision set in my box of dice and I have never used them again. I knew I was risking a tongue lashing to end all tongue lashings, but the draw of those five black and gold beauties was too great to resist.

  My trusty cheapo dice have now seen me through nearly 1,200 games of Yahtzee and are still going strong.

  The moral of the story? Any dice will do. The way I look at it is that if you are all playing with the same set of dice, no-one has a statistical advantage or disadvantage anyway. Whatever minute advantage a set of non precision may give will also apply to all the other players. The only thing I would say, is don't buy the casino dice with the razor sharp edges, not only is rolling five of them impossible because they're bloody huge, but the edges will destroy any table or dice board you might be playing on.

  I'm well aware that I'm an odd breed, and most, if not all of you don't think like me and think that dice are just dice. Well they are, but I'm the kind of guy that thinks "well, they cost more so they must be better, right?". So, if this post has taught you nothing else, hopefully it has taught you that this is not always the case. Choose whatever dice you want, but be aware that the dice may choose you instead...

Much love,

Chris