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Context:

“Very close. All you need to do is roll a seven in any combination. Two and five. Three and four. Six and one. You see? The odds favor you, my sweet. It’s very easy. I’ve just had a dumb rush of luck.” Bors slid the dice across the table.

This is the video version: LINK "I’ve just had a dumb rush of luck." is written in novel, but the line is changed to "I've just had a rush of dumb luck." on the TV show. I don't understand why Boris uses the present perfect tense.

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  • I read it. Bors wins b/c he has loaded dice, so his wins were not just a rush of dumb luck (as I would phrase it). The phrase dumb luck has its own meaning, in case you didn't know.
    – KannE
    Sep 20, 2020 at 12:13
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    The cited version is very "non-standard" (it's the only instance of dumb rush of luck indexed by Google Books). We normally talk about a run here, not a rush, and the standard sequence of the words is a run of dumb luck.
    – FumbleFingers
    Sep 20, 2020 at 13:34
  • @FumbleFingers Why does Bors use present perfect tense? He hasn't started to roll the dice yet.
    – Den Allan
    Sep 20, 2020 at 13:56
  • It means he doesn't know his terms very well. It should be a "rush (or run) of dumb luck".
    – Hot Licks
    Sep 20, 2020 at 14:02
  • I imagine Bors has got the biggest pile of coins in front of him at the gaming table. But he's trying to convince the girl that he [has] only won so much because he [has] had a run of dumb luck (not because he cheats, or because the odds are stacked in favour of the dealer).
    – FumbleFingers
    Sep 20, 2020 at 14:06

2 Answers 2

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Dumb luck = the way in which something good happens completely by chance, without being planned or deserved.

macmillandictionary

A little differently, a dumb rush of luck presumably refers to a throw or sequence of throws of the dice in which dumb means by chance, but bad rather than good.

So Bors is giving the impression that he has had a run of bad luck and that his opponent stands a good chance of winning. In truth, Bors is a con-man, because the chance of his opponent throwing seven with two dice is actually only 1 in 6 but, by presenting the idea as he does, Bors makes it sound very likely.

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  • I didn’t know that. So if it is crap, opponent loses 1 in 9. So Bors may indeed be telling the truth!
    – Anton
    Sep 20, 2020 at 14:11
  • @Anton The game is craps, with an s.
    – Lambie
    Sep 20, 2020 at 14:32
  • This is the video version: youtu.be/UwtXj7DBwyE?t=41 "I’ve just had a dumb rush of luck." is written in novel, but the line is changed to "I've just had a rush of dumb luck." on the TV show. I don't understand why Boris uses the present perfect tense.
    – Den Allan
    Sep 20, 2020 at 14:33
  • You didn't read the book, I guess. Bors has loaded dice. He is winning and collecting money. The witch knows they're loaded and uses her powers to roll a seven, twice.
    – KannE
    Sep 20, 2020 at 17:48
  • Context is all. I regret my ignorance of craps, which I mentioned in response to a comment I now do not see. Fun question though!
    – Anton
    Sep 20, 2020 at 18:05
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There is no particular idiom here, not in the version in the novel (a dumb rush of luck) nor on the tv (a rush of dumb luck)

Either way, the man is saying that the reason he is winning is just random (ie dumb) luck. And so the girl should roll the dice, since she is likely to win.

The present perfect is used as he is describing his current state. "Until now I have made many lucky rolls of the dice". (In fact I know from comments that he is cheating by using weighted dice, and she is a witch and is using magic...) Although we don't see it in the clip, we understand that Boris has been playing dice (and cheating, and winning) for a long time until now.

In craps, rolling 7 (or 11) is an immediate win. 2,3 or 12 is immediate loss. Otherwise you have to keep rolling the dice until you get 7 (and you lose) or you get the same number that you got on the first roll (and you win). The probability of winning is approximately 50%. However the game shown is "just roll 7" There is a 1/6 chance of getting seven, even with fair dice (and presumably much lower with Boris's loaded dice) so his claim "the odds favour you" is a lie.

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2
  • Thanks. I understand why the present perfect tense is used now. If Nimue is allowed to pick 3 numbers, she still doesn't have 1/2 chance of getting 7 because of the weighted dice, right? If I am correct, the weighted dice directly have to do with the shape of dice being made to favour one side.
    – Den Allan
    Sep 21, 2020 at 0:55
  • Yes. "craps" is a game where you have to re-roll your first number before you roll a seven. The odds are close to 1/2 (slightly against the roller) This seems just to be "roll a seven to win" and the odds are 1/6 with fair dice, (and probably less if they are weighted dice)
    – James K
    Sep 21, 2020 at 4:40

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