Sic Bo Guide
Three dice and a lot of bets with very different odds. Here is how sic bo works and which bets are actually worth playing.
How Sic Bo Works
Sic Bo is an ancient dice game played with three dice. You bet on what the dice will show, the shaker rolls them, and winning bets are paid according to a fixed table. It's a pure chance game, closer to roulette than to anything with skill, and the whole game turns on which bets you choose.
The Main Bets
- Small and Big: Small wins if the three dice total 4 to 10, Big if they total 11 to 17, with triples usually losing. These are the closest thing to an even-money bet.
- Specific totals: bet the exact sum of the three dice, from 4 to 17. Payouts rise for rarer totals.
- Single number: bet that a number from 1 to 6 shows on one, two, or three of the dice.
- Doubles and triples: bet that a specific pair or a specific three-of-a-kind appears. Triples pay huge but almost never land.
- Combinations: bet that two specific numbers both appear.
House Edge by Bet
This is where Sic Bo gets sharp. The edge varies enormously by bet. Small and Big carry an edge of around 2.78 percent, which is reasonable. A specific triple, by contrast, can carry an edge above 30 percent. Same game, wildly different value depending on where you put your chips.
Which Bets to Play
Stick to the low-edge bets. Small and Big, and to a lesser extent combination bets, give you the fairest odds. Avoid the specific-triple bets and other long-shot wagers, no matter how tempting the payout looks. The big number next to a bet almost always means a big house edge behind it.
Sic Bo is a good example of a game where the same table can be a fair bet or a terrible one depending on your choice. Learn the edges, stay on Small and Big, and ignore the triples.
Sic Bo Online
Online and live-dealer Sic Bo play the same as the physical game. Live versions add a real shaker and a host, while software versions use a random number generator. The odds are set by the paytable either way, so the advice is the same: check the payouts, favor the low-edge bets, and set a budget.