How to play Sic Bo
Sic Bo is a simple yet highly entertaining dice game. It has its origin in ancient China and from there made its way around the globe. It is relatively unknown compared to other casino games such as roulette, blackjack, poker or baccarat. But that doesn’t mean it is less fun and exciting.
Therefore, you can find SicBo today in many online casino and across betting sites in South Africa. There are sometimes also versions that use alternative names such as Tai Sai, Dai Siu, Big or Small as well as Hi-Lo. The last 2 names relate to one of the most popular betting options in Sic Bo, betting on Big (High) and Small (Low) numbers.
When we first started playing Sic Bo online, we were slightly overwhelmed with the betting grid and the betting options. As we learnt our way around, we decided to put together a little beginner’s guide. We hope it helps you get started with this fun dice game.
How to play Sic Bo
The game is played with 3 dice that are shaken and then rolled onto the table. In online Sic Bo the dice are usually in a glass shaker and set into motion automatically without any intervention by the live dealer to guarantee randomness and therefore fairness.
As mentioned, when looking at a SicBo betting grid for the very first time it can be quite confusing. But the game is really easy to learn and after a few rounds Sic Bo is quite a fun game.
There are a variety of betting options available that can be placed via the Sic Bo betting grid:
Betting options
- Big: you place a bet on the sum of all 3 dice being between 11 and 17.
- Small: you bet on all 3 dice summing up to between 4 and 10.
Big and Small bets are one of the most common and popular bets in Sic Bo. These even chance bets pay out 1:1 and have a probability of 48.61%. Please note that any triple sum, meaning all 3 dice show the same number e.g. 1-1-1, 2-2-2 or 6-6-6, makes you lose. This also clarifies why 3 and 18 are not available in this bet type. You can cover these outcomes via the triple bet.
- Totals: You can always bet on a specific dice total from the middle of the Sic Bo betting grid by placing your chips on any number from 4 to 17. Some sums are easier to hit while some have less ways. For example, there are only 3 ways to get the total of 4: 1-1-2, 1-2-1 and 2-1-1 and hence this bet has a payout of 60:1. In comparison the sum of 12 has a lot more winning combinations and therefore only a 6:1 payout.
- Single Dice Bet: this bet allows you bet on a specific number for 1, 2 or all 3 dice from the bottom of the SicBo grid. If your chosen number appears on 1 dice the payout is 1:1. If it comes up on 2 dice you get a 2:1 payout. And if your predcited number comes up on all 3 dice then the payout is 3:1.
- Double bet: if you think a specific number will appear on 2 dice then you can place a double bet straight away. With a probability of 7.4% the payout is 10:1.
- Triple: this bet allows to bet on the outcome of all 3 dice having the same number. You can either bet on any triple with a payout of 30:1 or a specific triple such as 5-5-5. The latter pays out 180:1.
While you can place a bet on any triple there is no option to place bets on any double.
Combination bets: if you do not want to predict the outcome of all 3 dice or their sum you can place Two Dice bets. These are also called Domino Bets as the display of the betting grid reminds of domino tiles. 15 two-dice combinations are available (e.g. 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, etc.) and any winning combination pays out 5:1.
In some Sic Bo casino games you have additional betting options such as even or odd. Therefore, you can bet on the total of all 3 dice sums up to an even or odd number
How to place your bets
Now that you know the different bet types you can start placing your bets. You can place bets on 1, 2 or all 3 dice via the betting grid and put your chips in the respective area. Then, the dice are shaken or “rolled” and once they have settled, winnings are awarded.
Depending on the online sic bo game you choose there might be some game specifics. But all games have a help tab that explain the set up of each game in detail. We recommend you have a read through before betting for real. In addition, you should also watch a couple of game rounds before you start to get into the betting action.
Strategy
SicBo is a game of chance which means playing by strategy is nearly impossible. Nevertheless there are certain recommendations you can try to increase your chances of winning. The most popular bets are high and low. These have the lowest house edge and with 105 winning combinations the best probability. Therefore, these are your obvious choice for winning but in all honesty these are not very exciting.
While Sic Bo has a lot of betting options don’t start with placing too many bets in one go. You need multiple bets to cover a good amount of the betting grid and increase you winnings but don’t overdue it. Rather analyse the options for chance of winning and payouts.
As with all gambling activity you should always keep in mind to stick to your budget and while statistics are great Sic Bo is a game of chance. Hence with every new game every possible wining combination can come up.
Sic Bo Games Online
As mentioned Sic Bo is not as popular as the live casino classics roulette and blackjack. But more and more developers are releasing live SicBo version. These are available 24/7/365 and hosted by an entertaining live dealer host. The best ones in our opinion are currently Mega Sic Bo by Pragmatic Play and Super SicBo by Evolution Gaming. We have written detailed game reviews for these and many other live games.
Where to play Sic Bo
More and more betting sites feature live casino games and with it at least one variant of Sic Bo. The below betting sites are all offering this versions of this fun dice game.
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In addition, you can find betting site recommendations for a specific game in the reviews.
There are not too many live casino games that involve dice. One other popular dice game is craps which you might want to explore alongside Sic Bo. Lightning Dice is also a very popular live dice casino game.
We wish you good luck playing Sic Bo online and on mobile – may the dice be in your favour.
