The Dice
The idea of fixed dice must be about one minute younger than the idea of dice itself.
As soon as these little cubes came to represent fate, it must have occurred to someone to arrange a way to control that fate. Most dice manufacturers make mostly true dice, rather exact in their specifications as to squareness, smoothness, and so on.
But most of the same manufacturers also make such novelties as loads, shapes, and sizes, just to name a few of the popular, especially in the casinos.
They may also manufacture marked cards and other dishonest devices, all under the guise of novelty items or parlor-magic tricks. To be sure, some trick decks or false dice do end up in the homes of harmless practical jokers or amateur magicians.
But there are others not so innocent as the home magicians and not so skilled as the best card manipulators in the casinos who are ready to risk getting caught for the advantage a marked deck gives them to play.
It is not illegal to make such devices, even though they are clearly cheating aids, because a magic-and-novelty market really does exist, and outlawing miss spotted dice or trick decks would constitute restraint of trade.
Unlike his skilled counterpart with the pasteboard rectangles, the dice mechanic will use trick dice. There is precious little else he could do, since no trick throw has yet been discovered that will make honest dice turn up the numbers you need.
All the same, a good dice mechanic can use a move known as the lock-grip, or just the lock, where dice are pressed firmly together and then carefully dropped into place on the table.
Naturally, the mechanic takes pains to make it seem as if he's shaking and rolling the normal way. But this maneuver falls far short of being a sure thing. Once honest dice leave your hand, all kinds of things can happen before they come to rest on the green baize.
More reliable to the cheat are fixed or gaffed dice. Such helpers can't be used in casino craps games, where the croupier rakes in the dice after each roll and would be sure to spot even the most subtle of fixed dice after a few rolls.
Very nervy or very inexperienced mechanics might try to slip in a pair of shapes or bevels for one or two turns, but most feel it's not worth the risk. The croupier has probably seen at least as much crooked action as the mechanic, and he knows where and when to look.
So play it safe and keep the novelty dice and cards out of legitimate games and just take a chance on luck being on your side. The risks involved are just not worth it.