Question of the Day - 21 April 2024

Yes, we answered this question a few years ago, but for some reason it continues to pique interest.

Chuck-a-luck is a game that originated in English pubs. Originally, it was called Sweat Cloth and it found its way to the U.S. around 1800 as just Sweat. By 1900, it was called Birdcage and eventually chuck-a-luck. You can see the game played by Lazar in the James Bond movie The Man with the Golden Gun. 

Initially, the game was played with a cup and three dice that were tossed across the table. To deal with allegations of cheating by operators who used both weighted dice and the practice of trick throwing, the cup was replaced with a birdcage-like device. 

Chuck-a-luck is decidedly low tech and enough modern-day gamblers found it, like the Big Six wheel that you don't see much anymore in contemporary casinos, boring and stopped playing. So even though the game has a house edge that averages 7.5%, the casinos replaced it with more popular games.  

Yes, it still exists, of course, but not in any casinos that we know of. Now, you find it mostly on carnival midways and casino-night charity fundraisers.