Sic Bo

Overview and object of the game

Sic Bo ("precious dice") is a Chinese game played with three dice. Players bet on the outcome of a single roll: the total, individual numbers, doubles, triples and two-number combinations. Every bet is a wager against the house, and winning bets are paid from a pay table.

Equipment

• Three standard dice numbered 1 to 6.
• A shaker — a covered cup or glass dome in which the dealer shakes the dice; many tables use an automatic shaker.
• A table layout showing every bet. On electronic tables the winning areas light up after the roll.

How a round is played

• Players place their bets on the layout.
• The dealer closes betting and shakes the dice in the shaker.
• The shaker is opened and the dealer announces the result: the three numbers and the total.
• Losing bets are collected and winning bets are paid from the table; the bet stays with the player. One roll can win many different bets at once — the payouts are added together.

The bets

• Small — total of 4 to 10. Big — total of 11 to 17. Both lose on any triple (e.g. 2-2-2 or 5-5-5), even if the total falls in the range.
• Single number — a bet on a number from 1 to 6. Wins if the number shows on at least one die; the payout depends on how many dice show it.
• Total — a bet on the exact sum of the three dice, from 4 to 17. Totals of 3 and 18 can only be made by the triples 1-1-1 and 6-6-6 and have no box of their own.
• Specific double — a bet that the chosen number shows on at least two dice. A triple of that number also wins the double.
• Specific triple — all three dice show the chosen number.
• Any triple — all three dice show the same number, whatever it is.
• Two-dice combination (domino) — two different chosen numbers both show (e.g. 2 and 5). There are 15 such boxes.

Some casinos offer extra bets — odd/even total (1 to 1, losing on any triple), three-number combinations and others. They are not part of the trainer.

Pay table

Pay tables vary between casinos. Below is the table used in the trainer; payouts are "to 1" and the bet stays with the player.

Other tables exist. For example, in Atlantic City a double pays 10 to 1 and a two-dice combination 5 to 1; in Macau a total of 4/17 pays 50 to 1, 5/16 pays 18 to 1, a specific triple 150 to 1 and a double 8 to 1; some casinos pay 24 to 1 on any triple. Single numbers pay 1, 2 and 3 to 1 almost everywhere.

Special cases

• A triple loses Small and Big but counts for every other bet: its total is paid as a total, the single number pays 3 to 1 and the double on that number wins.
• A two-dice combination is paid once even if one of its numbers shows on two dice (e.g. a 2-5 combination on a roll of 2-2-5 pays 6 to 1 once).
• A double pays the same whether two or three dice show the chosen number.
• If a die lands cocked or leaves the shaker area, the roll is void and repeated.

Examples

Rules and pay tables are checked against wizardofodds.com. Casinos may differ — see Variants and differences.