How to Play and Win at Online Sic Bo

Sic Bo is an incredibly simple dice game with roots in ancient China that has spread to almost every land-based and online casino in the world! Though the game goes by a few other names such as Tai Sai, Dai Siu, Big and Small and Hi-Lo, the gameplay remains the same and is largely untouched compared to the original Chinese version.

With the popular dice game included in the collection of almost all online casinos, you may have found yourself wondering what Sic Bo is all about and how you can get some of that action yourself. Well, you're in the right place to learn more! This complete guide will teach you everything you need to know to learn how to play and win at Sic Bo. We'll cover everything from the basics of the game to how bets are placed, how much you can expect to win to what you can do to boost your chances of winning.

How to Play Online Sic Bo

Sic Bo is a very easy game to understand and start playing. You could even start playing simply by opening a game and placing a few bets yourself! However, it always pays to be knowledgeable, so a wise first step before jumping right in is to learn the rules and basic gameplay.

The basics of the game involve predicting the outcome of a roll of three dice. You need to place chips on the bets featured on the specially designed betting table, with your payout determined by the type of bet you place. Sic Bo can be found as an RNG-based game and a live dealer game, but each has identical rules. Some live dealer variants offer additional ways to win, but the basic gameplay remains the same.

The Sic Bo Dice

As mentioned before, three dice are used to determine the outcomes in this game. These are three traditional pipped six-sided dice. To reach a provably fair result, as is required by the regulators of top casinos and to verify third parties, the dice rolls are controlled in one of two ways depending on the type of game.

In RNG-based games of Sic Bo, a random number generator (RNG) is used to determine the outcomes of each die. RNGs run on mathematical algorithms using constants and varying digits from various locations in a specific formula. The resulting output determines the faces that will show on each dice. This ensures that the results cannot be predicted, guaranteeing a random and thus fair outcome every time.

In live dealer versions of Sic Bo, you'll see the dice being shaken up inside a specially designed glass dome with a vibrating base. The dice will be shaken for a set period before the vibrating floor stops to allow the dice to settle. If any dice land is leaning against the glass dome, the roll is deemed invalid, and the dice are rolled again.

The Sic Bo Table

The table is where all the game's action occurs, from the dice rolls to placing bets to the payouts. Usually sporting the traditional green felt, the table tends to be oval, though some live dealer tables may offer more contemporary designs and appear more rectangular.

In RNG-based games of Sic Bo, you'll find most of the table is taken up by the various bets that you can place. You'll find the three dice somewhere to one side, either as an animation that appears during rolls or in some shaker that opens to reveal the outcome after each roll. To the sides, you'll see the options to choose your chip value, start a roll and clear any existing bets before the roll at the best casinos in Europe.

In live dealer Sic Bo, the table may be as simple as a felted podium at which the dealer sits with the dice shaker, or it may feature the entire suite of bets along with the dice shaker, with the live dealer at the top of the screen. In both cases, you'll also see what's referred to as the roadmap, which details the previous dice roll outcomes.

The Sic Bo Bets

Onto the specific bets now, there is a variety to choose from, all of which carry different chances of winning and, therefore, different payouts. Here are the various basic Sic Bo bets, along with a description of what they mean:

• Big: Here you're betting that the total of the three dice will be between 11 and 17;

• Small: A bet that the sum of the three dice will be between 4 and 10;

• Odd: A bet that the sum of the three dice will be weird (not available in all games);

• Even: A bet that the sum of the three dice will be even (not available in all competitions);

• Specific Triples (Alls): A bet that the dice will show a particular set of three, e.g. three 2s;

• Specific Doubles: A bet that the dice will show a specific set of two, e.g. two 2s;

• Any Triple: A bet that the dice will show any set of three;

• Three Dice Total: A bet that the total of all three dice will be a specific number from 4 to 17, e.g. 12;

• Dice Combinations: A bet that the dice will show a particular two-dice combination, e.g. 2 and 4;

• Single Dice: A bet that at least one dice will show a specific number, e.g. a 1.

In the live dealer, Sic Bo games of Evolution's Super Sic Bo and Pragmatic Play's Mega Sic Bo, extra win multipliers are added to certain bets at random as the dice roll, giving you the chance to increase your winnings dramatically!

Step by Step

So what can you expect from the game of Sic Bo as it's played? Here's a run-through of how one round of Sic Bo plays out, step by step:

1. Choose your chip value: Select your chip value from the set in the displayed interface;

2. Place your bets: Click on any of the bets as displayed on the table in RNG games or on the betting interface in live dealer games;

3. Click or wait for the dice roll: In RNG-based games of Sic Bo, when you're ready you can click to roll the dice. In live dealer games, the dice will be shaken once the betting time has expired;

4. Get your winnings!: Once the dice outcome has been revealed, the winning bets will be highlighted, and you'll get your payouts automatically!

As you can see, there's not much to the game, making it very simple to start playing and winning!

How to Win Sic Bo

Being a very simple game, it's pretty easy to tell when you win! If you bet on the dice to show a certain number or numbers, and they do, you win. It doesn't get any more complicated than that! However, take a closer look and you'll realise that not all bets will pay out the same if they do come up as winners for you. If you're interested in how to win, part of that involves learning about which bets payout the most, which is directly related to how often the specific outcomes come up.

Payouts With Sic Bo

So which Sic Bo bets offer the biggest payouts? Let's revisit the different bets, but this time we'll also check out each one's payout odds:

• Big: This bet pays out evens if you win (1/1);

• Small: Evens;

• Odd: Evens;

• Even: Evens;

• Specific Triples (Alls): 180/1;

• Specific Doubles: 10/1

• Any Triple: 30/1;

• Three Dice Total: 

  • 4 and 17: 60/1;

  • 5 and 16: 30/1;

  • 6 and 15: 18/1;

  • 7 and 14: 12/1;

  • 8 and 13: 8/1;

  • 9, 10, 11 and 12: 6/1.

• Dice Combinations: 6/1;

• Single Dice: Evens.

Notice that generally speaking, the higher the likelihood of the dice outcome, the lower the payout. This follows through to the totals bets, with 4 being much more unlikely than, say, 10, which results in the spread of payouts.

Sic Bo Strategies

Is there any way you can influence the game to get an advantage and increase your chances of winning at Sic Bo? In general, whenever outcomes result from an entirely random event, there isn't anything you can do to influence that outcome. However, that's not all there is to it in the case of Sic Bo.

Since you choose which bets to place, and each of those bets has a different chance of coming up, you can slightly boost your chances of winning by choosing your bets wisely. Of course, there is a payoff when selecting the most likely outcomes in that you won't win very much, so there is a balance between likelihoods and quick casino payouts for the best experience. Let's look at a few ways to bet for better chances of winning.

Big/Small and Odd/Even Bets

If getting a win is at the top of your agenda when playing Sic Bo, then the even money bets are the ones to focus on. These include the big or small bets and the odd or even bets (where available), which payout 1/1 if you win. These bets are even money because you have a 50/50 chance of that bet winning. On the flip side, however, you don't stand to make much money!

Single Dice Bets

The single dice bet is another bet worth placing if you're keen to score a win. Your chance that at least one of the three dice will show the number you've bet on carries varying odds and payouts depending on the outcome.

If one of the dice lands your way, you'll get an even money payout, which makes sense if you think about the fact that each dice has six sides but there are three dice in total, resulting in a 50/50 chance. Things get more interesting if two or all three dice land the same way. A single dice bet on, say, 1 pays out 3/1 if all three dice show a 1, which results in a bigger payout for the same stake.

Totals Bets

The three dice totals bet it is an interesting option that can also be skewed to your advantage. If you think about dice totals, it's very unlikely you'll see three 1s or three 6s, which is why they're not included in the totals bets. As you get closer to the middle of the totals range, the odds improve, with 9, 10, 11 and 12 offering the greatest chances of showing up. The best totals bets to place are 10 and 11, as there are more combinations of the three dice that can lead to this outcome than any other total.

Systems

Since there are even money bets in Sic Bo, the same strategies used for even money bets in Roulette can be used here too. Here are a few of them to try:

• Martingale: This negative progression strategy calls for doubling your bet if you lose and reverting to the original bet size when you win;

• Grand Martingale: The same as the above, but whenever the bet is doubled, you add another one to it too;

• Fibonacci: Here, your bet is determined by the Fibonacci sequence of numbers, where the next in the series is the sum of the two preceding numbers. If you lose, your next bet size is the value of the next number in the series, but if you win, you drop two numbers back in the series to give you your next bet size;

• D'Alembert: Your bet increases by one when you lose and decreases by one when you win;

• Reverse Martingale/Parlay: As the name suggests, this is the opposite of the Martingale in that you double your bet if you win and revert to the original bet size if you lose.

While these systems are fun to try, remember that you cannot guarantee any specific outcome, even on 1/1 bets, and that doubling your bet size can result in runaway losses if you're not careful.

Do You Want to Play Sic Bo?

Ready to start playing Sic Bo for real? Whether you're keen to explore the many RNG-based games or experience the unique live dealer variants, you can get started in just a few minutes! Choose any of the carefully reviewed online casinos on this site that offer Sic Bo, open a free account, make your first deposit, claim any available welcome bonuses, open the game and start playing and winning for real at Sic Bo!