So last two tournaments I went to, I noticed a couple of odd behaviors from players. Being a magician has helped me spot cheaters from all kinds of games.

without explaining the techniques, Ill explain loosely how it was done.

First tourny I went to, I noticed a guy was flicking his dice (he would leave his hand a few inches above the table and quickly turn over his hand -close to the method Khyros tried to show me... I gave the guy the benefit that he wasnt consciously cheating, but his poor maneuvering cost him the game (his dice rolling were always amazing though had low agility ships). There were reasons I felt I could not talk to the TO about this player.

The second guy, had more of a questionable method then full out cheating. He would set his dice in his hand so all evades would face a certain direction, or all hits would face another direction. he was in effect presetting the faces of the dice in his hand, which in my opinion will effect the out come of the dice. I at first did not notice this fellow doing this (I didnt get to play him) but my gf pointed him out to me, and his dice prepping). I had already reported a guy to the TO about stalling (10+minutes per round) so again, I didnt report, not to mention my mind was dead and I couldnt stay any longer.

So the second guy was doing a deliberate action to improve his odds, is it cheating?

A roll is a roll is a roll. I don't care what they do with the dice before they toss them, as long as they don't try to play with them after they leave my opponent's hand. Unless the dice are loaded, there is absolutely no way they can affect the outcome.

Probably wouldn't matter unless he weighted the dies in a certain way. Could be just a superstition or ocd at work. If he can put dice in his hand and roll a specific face value he should be in vegas at the craps table. I like the dice tower or rolling tray for my randomization.

A roll is a roll is a roll. I don't care what they do with the dice before they toss them, as long as they don't try to play with them after they leave my opponent's hand. Unless the dice are loaded, there is absolutely no way they can affect the outcome.

would you say this if I could roll 3 dice 50 times, and have them all land hits 45 times?

There are definitely ways to effect the outcome of dice simply in the throwing.

In general if I suspect such shenanigans I quietly tell the TO. A decent TO will lurk about more, which usually nixes it in the bud, if its occurring.

The first guy I would be the most suspicious of, and I would be looking to see if he was doing similar manipulation before rolling. If i am imagining the action you are describing, he is essentially just flipping the dice out of his hand and not actually rolling them, meaning the faces that are against his palm will most likely come up.

The second guy it would depend on his throwing action and whether he was able to use it to manipulate the result like the first guy could have.

Bloodbowl etiquete (atleast in Australia) is to use a dice cup, to stop exactly this type of cheating. It would be a sad day for "Fly Casual" if we ended up there.

A roll is a roll is a roll. I don't care what they do with the dice before they toss them, as long as they don't try to play with them after they leave my opponent's hand. Unless the dice are loaded, there is absolutely no way they can affect the outcome.

There are a few ways to roll dice that make it possible to influence the probabilities - for example, by spinning the die, you can increase the odds that you end up on 1 of 4 faces ( easier to see with a d8 than the x-wing dice, because of the numbers) - and a far easier technique with d10s, with normal dice, there are low and high numbers on one "half" of the dice, so it's not as useful. Also, This method really only works well for 1 die at a time, you cant really hold multiple dice and spin them in this fashion.

however, a quick look at the x-wing dice shows us that there's a positioning that will give 2 evade, 1 focus, 1 blank - this trick will give you about a 50% chance of an evade. As for the attack die, it's got 2 hits and a blank and focus on either side, but by using the hit crit focus blank side, you increase your crit odds to 1 in 4.

Another method is to set a side in your hand and roll the die off your hand, at a low height so that it ends up falling by rotating minimally, and pretty much only a single 90 degree turn. With practice, you can get really good at getting the result you want. It's fairly obvious that you're doing it, if you watch, so I would expect it to be called out for trying it. I can imagine that going to a TO would be difficult, as it's hard to prove that it occurred without video or the TO themselves catching them in the act - it's my word vs your word situation. As a TO i'd probably have no choice but to give a warning - and just keep my eyes on the player.

Of course, all of the above and any method that successfully influences the die results is cheating - and I do not endorse or condone it, if you need to cheat in this super fun game, you probably have some issues...

(As to why I know this, studies of magic, and simple "can it be done" problem solving and curiosity. I also understand that some people may find it controversial to put the methods out in the open, but I believe that given the difficulty in the task, and the difficulty in concealing the act - that it's probably better for more people to know what to look for if they suspect a problem. I sincerely hope that the "fly casual" mantra wins and we don't need to worry about it in the first place )

Show me a consistent way to make the die land a certain way.

Rather than fingering and wrist twists, which are extremely difficult techniques to execute and have inconsistent results, look out for signs that make evidence that the dice have been manipulated.

The most obvious and common one is your opponent 'recovering' immediately his dice after rolling, and hiding them from view, usually, in his palm.

Chances are that at least one die -wich is far less conspicuous than altering all of them- is fubared, and he probably switches it with a normal die after rolling. That's how I caught one guy using a d8 red die that had 1 crit 5 hits! 1 blank and 1 focus. The forgery was pretty good, and nothing short of a close inspection will tell the difference.

Rather than fingering and wrist twists, which are extremely difficult techniques to execute and have inconsistent results, look out for signs that make evidence that the dice have been manipulated.

The most obvious and common one is your opponent 'recovering' immediately his dice after rolling, and hiding them from view, usually, in his palm.

Chances are that at least one die -wich is far less conspicuous than altering all of them- is fubared, and he probably switches it with a normal die after rolling. That's how I caught one guy using a d8 red die that had 1 crit 5 hits! 1 blank and 1 focus. The forgery was pretty good, and nothing short of a close inspection will tell the difference.

There are tools all over the world for whom the win is more important than the route to that win...

Gotta watch out for the old Jedi Mind tricks when using chance cubes!

I should point out my 2 house rules.

1) Use of The Force to affect the dice is not cheating

2) Let the Wookie win

I've played/witnessed a 40k player shaking the dice in his hand until quite a few 1's are showing and then slapping his hand down and hey presto, majority of sixes. This was in friendly play and I had no issue with the unorthodox technique as, due to it being orks, there was a huge amount of dice that could end up everywhere. It was only when another member of our club pointed it out that I saw it happening. Same when a cup was used, shaking 'til 1's then slammed down like a tequila glass.

"Rolling" isn't always rolling.

would be more concerned with the TIME the dude was wasting prepping the dice!!! seriously all ready did this test waaaaay back in high school... get 6 dice and set them a fixed distance from the surface with a system to allow them to be dropped. drop them 100 times and record the results.... THE RESULTS WERE random.

If someone uses a tablet be even more suspicious...

But literally just placing the dice on the table is NOT random...

Show me a consistent way to make the die land a certain way.

http://casinogambling.about.com/od/craps/a/diceset.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=w0E4ZIKBYuU#t=230

Personally, I think it would be significantly more difficult to influence the roll of an 8 sided die than a 6 sided die.

If I picked up the dice individually and set the opposed face upwards, then slammed my hand down I could probably guarantee +80% favourable. This guy just shook his hand a bit then slapped them down. Simples.

just make them use the electronic app..lol

Honestly if someone can get their hand movements precise enough to actually effect their dice more than the standard gamer methods of sacrificing a chicken to the number gods then I would say they deserve their win. It may not be strategy but **** if that's not skill.

There are ways to cheat, but I would say most are pretty obvious.

In my D&D days, when the had those funky cyclindrical dice, we had a player flip them instead of rolling. Would constantly get high rolls, it's the same thing.

But being that this is "Fly Casual" your only going to stir up the nest. Accept that those kind of players with their "cheat rolls", blocking, or 12 fly arounds, are just in it for the wins.

If my opponent can perform some cool magic tricks while doing his wacky rolling, he can roll any way he wants to. I play this game for entertainment purposes after-all.

In any game we play if we ever have a question of dice, we just use one set of dice for all rolls. No one gets their own personal dice. There's just one set of attack, and one set of defence both visible at all times on the table.

If my opponent can perform some cool magic tricks while doing his wacky rolling, he can roll any way he wants to. I play this game for entertainment purposes after-all.

So... if I were to roll 100% crits and evades... you'd be fine with because, hey, fun!

If someone cheats - or attempts to cheat in any way, they should be kicked out. They're ruining the fun for everyone else.

I suppose I should be surprised, but reports of this type of behavior sadden me.