How to Play Sic Bo
Sic bo is three dice shaken in a covered cup. You bet on what the dice will show, the cup is lifted, and the round is over. There is nothing to play out.
The layout is busy and the payouts run from 1 to 1 all the way to 150 to 1, which makes it look like there is a lot to think about. There is really only one decision: cheap bets or expensive ones.
Big, Small, and what everything pays
Small covers totals of 4 to 10. Big covers 11 to 17. Both pay 1 to 1 and both carry a house edge of 2.78%.
Those two are the sensible bets. Almost everything else on the layout costs between 9% and 30%, which is slot-machine territory and worse.
The triple rule that catches everyone
Big and Small both lose when all three dice show the same number — 1-1-1 through 6-6-6 — even when the total falls inside your range.
6-6-6 totals 18, which is outside Big anyway. But 4-4-4 totals 12, which sits squarely inside Big, and it still loses. That exception is exactly where the 2.78% comes from.
Why 150 to 1 is not generous
Betting on one specific triple — say three fours — pays 150 to 1. It sounds enormous.
There are 216 possible combinations of three dice, and exactly one of them is three fours. The true odds are 215 to 1. You are being paid 150.
That gap is a house edge of about 30%. It is the most expensive bet on this website, and it is the one the layout draws your eye to.
The middle bets
- Any triple — pays 24 to 1, true odds 35 to 1. Around 30% edge.
- A specific total — 4 or 17 pay 50 to 1, 10 or 11 pay about 6 to 1. Edges from 9% to 29% depending on the number.
- A specific double — pays about 8 to 1, roughly 18% edge.
- Single number — pays 1 to 1, 2 to 1 or 3 to 1 depending on how many dice show it. Around 7.9%.
Payouts vary between operators on several of these, which changes the edge. Where the table publishes its paytable, read it.
How to play it without paying too much
Stay on Big or Small and sic bo is a reasonably priced game at 2.78% — cheaper than most slots. Wander into the middle of the layout and it becomes one of the most expensive games available.
There is no skill element and no pattern to find. The dice are shaken mechanically and the previous throw has no bearing on the next one.