I happen to be perusing YouTube and I stumbled upon a very interesting video. A gentleman was demonstrating what he called “Lottery Dice.” The name caught my attention, and since the word “Lottery” was in the title I decided to give the video a view.
The game was created by a man named Oskar van Deventer. This man is a puzzle designer who lives in the Netherlands. In this game, he presents a set of two 6-sided dice. Each die is numbered differently.
One die is numbered with a number 6, the number 1, and the other four sides are zeros. The other die is numbered with a 4, with a number 1, and the other sides are numbered with zeros.
Just like all lotteries, there is a fee to play the game. To play this game, participants must pay a $1.00 entry fee. After paying the fee, the player rolls the dice once.
Once the dice are tossed, the resulting two numbers (one number facing up on each of the dice), are multiplied together. The product of those two multiplied numbers is the price.
For example:
The player rolls the dice and each of the dice is showing the number 1. Well, multiply 1 X 1 and you get 1. So the player wins $1.00 or wins back the dollar he or she played.
If the player rolls the dice and the number 1 and the number 4 are showing, then you’d multiply the 4 X 1. The result is 4.
The player wins $4.00.
Conversely, if the player rolls the dice and either number showing is zero, well you can do the math for that too.
0 X 1 = 0.
0 X 4 =0.
0 X 6 = 0.
And obviously, 0 X 0 = 0.
Thus, you have the element of chance in the game.
The grand prize is when a player rolls the number 6 and the number 4.
6 X 4 = 24. You would win $24.
NOTE: there is only one number 6 and one number 4. Most of the spaces on the dice are occupied by zeros. So it does require a significant amount of luck to win the top prize.
Oskar van Deventer has created names for each number combination you can roll.
The $24 prize is called the “Jackpot.:
The $6 prize is called a “Big Win.”
On the other hand,
the 6 X 0 combination is called a “Big Honor.”
The 1 X 0 combination is called a “Near Miss.”
And the 0 X 0 combination is called . . . wait for it . . . “Alas, better luck next time.”
The Lottery Dice themselves come in two versions: white numbers with a colorful background and colorful numbers with a white background.
van Deventer notes that he and his wife have differing opinions on which one is better.
Oskar van Deventer recommends this game be played at a bar, or even at a casino. Now, for readers in the United States, I’m not sure you can start your own lottery dice franchise, as trying to run anything remotely resembling a lottery is illegal.
But if you can get your friends to promise not to tell anyone, maybe you all can have a good time losing your money at a bar or at a house party.
Dr. M. Oskar van Deventer has been designing puzzles since he was 12 years old. Many of the puzzles he’s developed over that time are actually available to buy. If you are interested you can visit his website for more information at https://oskarvandeventer.nl/
Fun Fact: The Netherlands was one of the regions in the world where the first iterations of dice were discovered many millennia ago. And hey, I bet you don’t even know where dice came from, do you? Or how we ended up using them for games and stuff. Well, fortunately, I am here to impart education to you.
Read about the story of dice here: [link to story]
You might be surprised where the origins of your Monopoly dice began.