Craps

[Cyrus]

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Until recently, there was no machine that could beat Gary Kasparov at chess. Was that task impossible? Now that a machine has done it, has it suddenly become possible?
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When Michaelangelo carved David, there was no machine that could accomplish such a feat. Can we then assume that carving the David was an impossible task, in spite of the existence of it? How then did it come about?
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What does the fact that no dice setting machine exists actually prove, other than nobody has yet built one?

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Very well said. Nothing to add really.

[Cyrus]

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I'll address several of the previous postes' points here. First the machine, it would be for a control test to prove that the dice could be thrown in the exact same manner every single time without the introduction of human error.

[/ QUOTE ] You are cofused.

Humans can detect bias (i.e. alteration of randomness) with a nifty li'l thingy called Statistics. In other words, if a large enough number of trials is performed and the results are significant, then we can assume, within a certain margin of error, that bias exists, i.e. controlling the dice is possible. Or it isn't. With that particuls shooter (or set of shotters) at least.

Statistics. What a concept. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

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Dice shooters will have a selective memory just like poor poker players. They will recall the times they tried to roll a ten and were successful and forget the times they sevened out.

[/ QUOTE ] Correct -- but irrelevant. We are talking about Controlled Dice here (and the potential for it), rather than Gamblers' Fallacies. Your point is relevant only when the gambler who gets lucky starts boasting he can control the dice.


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If you throw the dice one million times using proper casino rules, by both dice hitting the back wall, in a typical casino environment your results will certainly be within two standard deviations of what statisitics would predict your results to be.

[/ QUOTE ] The obstacle is not human capacity to throw in a controlled manner but, of course, The Wall. This is where the efforts of "dice controllers" are focusing on -- and this entails a little, let's say, deviation from house rules.

I do salute your suspicious mind. Controlled dice throwing has not been "proven" (although Stanford Wong conducted what amounts to be to a controlled experiment, a few months ago) but, nonetheless, the theoretical possibility exists. Therefore, expect more of this -- here and elsewhere -- for better or worse...