load the dice

Idioms  

1. Rig the odds so there is little chance for another person to win; cheat. For example, There's no way we can win this contest; they've loaded the dice. This expression is also put as the dice are loaded, as in There's no point in trying; the dice are loaded. This expression alludes to adding weight to one side or another of dice so that they will always come up with certain numbers facing upward. [Late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

The report looks at three key weather conditions — heat, dryness and wind — that, when combined, load the dice for wildfires to spread quickly and grow large, said Kaitlyn Trudeau, senior research associate with Climate Central.

From Los Angeles Times

Both La Nina and climate change “load the dice for more extremes,” said University of Northern Illinois atmospheric scientist Victor Gensini, but he said it’s difficult to attribute any single event to La Nina.

From Seattle Times

“The dry, warm summer and the lack of moisture — they kind of load the dice or set the stage for wildfire but … you need a good weather event to crank up wildfires west of the Cascades and that never happened,” Boomgard-Zagrodnik said.

From Seattle Times

“Nature creates the perfect conditions for fire, as long as people are there to start the fires. But then climate change, in a few different ways, seems to also load the dice toward more fire in the future.”

From Seattle Times

This it does via a series of practices that load the dice against US competitors in order to sustain the one-party rule of the Chinese communist party.

From The Guardian