> Even more primitively one player may grab a number of stones from a
> hidden reservoir, and the other players have to guess the number, or
> colour and shape of the stones in the toss.
According to Watership Down, even rabbits play that game. :-)
> Betting on the cast of rune stones, upside down clay tablets, etc. will
> do. As will bets on any kind of combat or racing, who counts coup, or
> whatever. Many gamblers don't care what the mechanism of the game is, as
> long as money can be made (or lost). I once met someone who claimed that
> any skill or knowledge involved in gambling just detracts from the point
> of gambling. Which was, according to him, the thrill whether to win or
> lose the stakes.
>
> I guess that to most people in the hobby of roleplaying, this view is
> fairly alien. Your average barracks soldier might share it, though.
There is a book called "Against the Gods : The Remarkable Story of Risk" by Peter L. Bernstein that talks about assessment of risk and probability. If I recall correctly, the relative probability of various throws of two or three dice was not understood until the late medieval period.
http://math.truman.edu/~thammond/history/Gambling.html
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