From Justin du Coeur come these humble words, to hys Excellencie
Jehan, noble Barone Carolingia.

Goode my Baron, at yr Investiture but days passed now, I plac'd in
yr handes .4. dyce. I write to You now to warn that these were meant
not for use, but for example: For eche of these dice are false, made
in the style of base Cheators. I gave them to You not as implication
against yr honestie, but in concern that suche honestie could playe
Ye false. For the Goode Man believeth goodnes in all around him,
while the Base Man suspects always hys neighbor's intent. And so I
give unto You these false examples, that You maye not be basely trick'd
by Wicked Cheators: as so manie new nobles, thinking no Harm, have
been trick'd into losing not meerly a night's stake, but even the
whole of their Estate.

The Cheator hath manie base tricks, but the greatest of these are
the False Dyce: and they have manie such dyce, drawn crookedly
and against the square, or weighted falsely. Among the most famous
are those which I have shewn to you, the Bar'd and Flat dyce.

The fyrst pair are known as Bar'd Cater-Treys, or Langrets among
the Cheators: And they are called Barred due to the waye they are
cut, most unsquare and false; For rather than being the perfect
Cube of a true Dye, they are lengthen'd in one direction over the
others, so that they are like a Bar. And the Cater (that is, the
syde bearing .4. spotes) and the Trey (that bearing .3.) are plac'd
on the ends of thys Bar, so that they shall not be easily throwne.
For as when ye throw a Bar, it is unlike to fall on the ende, but
rather is like to fall on its Syde, so shall the Bar'd Dye fall
moste on the Ace, Duce, Sink and Sice (those Sydes bearing 
.1.2.5.6.) rather than the Cater or Trey.

And against these are the bale of Flat Cater-Treys: and just as
the Bar'd dyce are made in the forme of a Bar, so the Flat dyce
are like a Coin, with one direction shorter than the others.
And again, the Cater and Trey are plac'd on the false sydes:
and like the Coin, the Flat Dye shall not in its generall throw
fall upon the Edge (that is, the Sydes with .1.2.5.6.), but upon
the flat Sydes with the Cater and Trey. Yet the False Dyce are
made Subtile and Cunning (much more than my poor effort at
example), so that ye may not see the falsitie unless ye know
of the Trick.

The False Gamester useth these Dyce to hys advantage, diff'rent
in eche game, so ye muste always watch for the falsity that
sheweth cunning for the game ye play. But for example, think
of the game Novum; and in this game, the Advantage is all to
him who throws the .5. and the .9. And the Cheator shal use
the False Dyce in suche wise: that ye shal not be holding True
Dyce, but the paire of Bar'd Cater-Treys when yr time to throw
comes. And ye shall not be able to throwe the .5. or .9. with
the Langrets: for the .5. can only be made with the Ace and Cater,
or the Duce and Trey, whilst the .9. can bee made with the
Trey and Sice, or Cater and Sink: and as eche of these requireth
the Trey or Cater, ye shall not be able to make the Pointe. And
yet, when the Cheator's time cometh to throw, hee shall use his
subtletie to change the dyce in his hande, that he throweth one
Flat Cater-Trey with one Bar'd, or e'en to change bothe dyce into
suche as will suit his Purpose. And so hee may make the Pointe
that ye may not.

And the cunning Cheator will not win eche hand, for even the
Langret may shew the Cater or Trey if the throw hath luck: yet,
hee shal win more than he lose, and in losing some hee looketh
to be more Honest than hee truly is; and in an evening, he wil
yet win all the stakes, and promises besides, for if hee win
but .2. handes in .3., yet shal his winnings be great.

So thys warning I sende to Yr Exelency, that the False Gamester
shall seek to rob You of Yr endowment: and yf You forbear from
the Dyce entirely (keeping onely to the more philosophicall Games
such as Chess and Rhythmomachie), then shal You have no neede to
concern with these Cheators; yet if You should playe with the Dyce,
study them well, to be sure that they are Good and True, with no
flaw that would make them fall against Yr advantage: For in his
Cosenage, the Cheator hath manie weapons of falsity that hee would
playe against You.

In hopes of Yr prosperitie and that of Yr landes, in thys third day of
Yr Reign, the .11. of June, 1602, by Yr servent, Justin duC.


Endnotes
--------

This article is largely derived from "Mihil Mumchance, His Discovery
of the Art of Cheating in false Dyce play" (London: 1597, printed by
John Danter; STC 17916). This is a delightful little 30-page book,
basically a fairly nasty expose of some common cheating techniques and
the people who use them. It describes several more types of false dice
(and, tantalizingly, lists several more that it doesn't describe in
detail), along with how some of the scams are pulled, and descriptions
of how to mark cards and such.