Modern Rogue Office Hours #196 - Psychic Dice!

ntroduction Three dice are dropped into a glass, covered with a coaster, then shaken up. The mark lifts up the glass just enough to peek at the bottom sides of all three dice, then adds all three dice to get a total value. Without peeking or cheating, the scam artist is able to divine the secret number in the sucker's mind! Psychic Dice Revealed The method is simple. The trick is pulling it off with SUBTLETY. Amazingly, most people do not know that dice are made such that the values on opposite sides always total 7 (if there's a 6 on one side, there will be a 1 on the other, etc.). So by catching a quick glimpse of the tops of the dice, you can figure out the values on the bottom. You could look at each individual die and figure out what value is on the other side, or use a simple shortcut to get the total value on bottom: total up the values on the top of the dice, and subtract that amount from 21: your answer will be the secret number they're thinking of! Tyler tries the Psychic Dice Scam Now remember that they're going to suspect you're somehow peeking... so don't go for the gold right away. Instead, when they set down the glass, maintain eye contact, and act like you've already got the answer. After a moment, make a distracting gesture and sneak just a peek at the top of the dice, and you'll be home free.