Sic Bo Online

Sic Bo Casinos

What You Need to Know

Sic Bo Online logoGamblers have been rolling dice for as long as people have had time to kill and money to burn, but Sic Bo Online just might be the grandfather of all dice games.

Literally translated as precious dice in Chinese, the game of Sic Bo has been played continuously in Asia since the era of ancient Chinese antiquity more than 1,900 years ago. And while Sic Bo online bears a passing resemblance to craps, the American dice game of choice, in reality sitting down for an online Sic Bo session offers players an entirely different experience.

Sic Bo versus Craps

Sic Bo is a simple guessing game in which players wager on the result of a roll, with three six-sided dice being used instead of the pair found in craps. If you’re familiar with roulette, the betting system for Sic Bo may be a bit more familiar as you’ll be wagering on outcomes which offer an essentially even money proposition like the red or black bets, or more unlikely outcomes that offer significantly higher payouts like the number bets.

Online Sic Bo tableWhile craps still dominate the gambling landscape for dice throwers, both in land based casinos and online casino platforms, Sic Bo is experiencing a revival of late. Online casino players, in particular, have embraced Sic Bo in the last decade or so, with the added comfort created by the online game compelling gamblers all over the globe to try something new. Without the additional pressure created by land-based casinos, where experienced players may become impatient with novices and big money bets dwarf your initial wagers, online casinos provide players with the perfect place to try their hand at Sic Bo without feeling out of place.

Popularity is on the Rise

Today, popular casino platforms like Bovada spread Sic Bo online, and every day new players discover the game’s entertainment value and ease of play. By combining an extremely simple setup in terms of player-based decisions with a wide array of betting options and big payouts, Sic Bo creates a gameplay experience which is perfectly suited for online play.

The following walkthrough is intended to introduce new players to the world of online Sic Bo. First, you’ll learn about the rules, gameplay mechanics, terminology, and available wagers found in Sic Bo. Next, we’ll review the industry’s most reputable venues currently offering online Sic Bo. Finally, the game’s strategic considerations will be examined to help you gain a leg up on your next Sic Bo session.

Best Online Casino

  • Easy Credit Card Deposits
  • 200+ slots + many other casino games
  • Excellent mobile options
  • US Accepted with Huge Bonuses
  • Mobile, Flash, and Download Play Options
  • BoVegas Mobile
  • BoVegas Windows Mobile
  • BoVegas Apple Mobile
  • BoVegas Android Mobile
  • US Accepted & Apple Mobile-friendly
  • Big Bonuses and Over 330 Casino Games
  • Cafe Casino Mobile
  • Cafe Casino Windows Mobile
  • Cafe Casino Apple Mobile
  • Cafe Casino Android Mobile
  • Supports Microsoft Windows & Mac
  • Android & Apple Mobile-friendly
  • SlotoCash Mobile
  • SlotoCash Windows Mobile
  • SlotoCash Apple Mobile
  • SlotoCash Android Mobile

How to Play Sic Bo Online

The beauty of learning Sic Bo while playing online is that internet based casinos offer a personalized experience for players. You may have passed by a Sic Bo table a time or two while walking through your local casino, but if you’re like most casual gamblers, the sight of a game table which rivals craps in terms of complex construction likely left you feeling confused or intimidated. When you throw in a throng of players with bets already in play, a dealer running the game without looking your way, and other aspects of live play, it’s easy to understand why many players pass up a chance to try Sic Bo online for the first time.

But when you open up a Sic Bo table in an online casino, all of those distractions are automatically removed, leaving you with all the time you need to get yourself acquainted with the table.

Understanding the Sic Bo Table

The first thing you’ll notice about the Sic Bo table is that it has been divided into several distinct betting areas, by virtue of a complicated grid which has been laid over the green felt. In fact, the Sic Bo table offers players no less than 50 individual wagers on every roll of the dice. Without learning the lay of the land you’ll be left feeling out of the loop, so begin by checking out the visual tour below of the Sic Bo table to get a better feel for the betting areas.

Learning everything you can about the various Sic Bo bets is really all you need to know in order to play the game. Unlike strategic casino games which require players to make informed decisions based on available information, such as the current point in craps, online Sic Bo players need to do nothing more than guessing the amount three dice will show on their next roll. Every roll of the dice represents an independent event, so players have no need to ascertain odds before placing their wagers. You simply scan the betting table, place one or more wagers that tickle your fancy, and wait for the dealer to reveal the next dice roll.

The Small and Big Bets

Small Big betsTo begin our tour of the Sic Bo table, the obvious starting point will be the upper left and right corners, which are marked Small and Big respectively. As the fine print underneath these labels will inform you, a bet on Small means you believe the next roll will result in a total between 4 and 10. Conversely, betting on Big means you think the next roll will result in a total between 11 and 17.

Winning wagers on the Small and Big bets pay out at a rate of 1 to 1, which aligns closely with your expected win rate of 48.61 percent on either wager. The best way to think about Sic Bo’s most basic bets is to consider another pure guessing game popular in casinos around the world: roulette. In the spinning wheel game an equal amount of red and black spaces is in play, so you should ostensibly have a 50 percent chance of winning when you bet on either color.

As roulette veterans will tell you, however, your odds are slightly reduced by the inclusion of green 0 and 00 spaces on the wheel. These house spaces provide the casino with its house edge, as winning color bets pay out at 1 to 1, while players face slightly worse odds than that.

The same principle holds true in Sic Bo online, because as you can see by examining the number ranges for Small and Big bets, one possible outcome has been removed from either side. Three dice can be rolled to total 3 or 18, but these numbers are not included among the range of Small or Big bets. By removing these outlying numbers from the Small and Big betting squares, online Sic Bo ensures that the house always maintains a slight edge of 2.78 percent on these basic bets.

Nonetheless, just like roulette’s color bets, a wager on either Small or Big in Sic Bo offers players the lowest house edge of all the game’s possibilities.

Double and Triple Bets

Double and Triple betsMoving inward along the Sic Bo table, the next betting areas you’ll find are labeled Double and Triple. These betting squares also include corresponding dice symbols to help illustrate the outcomes you’ll be hoping to hit. Above the betting area, you’ll also notice payout information stating 1 Wins 10, 1 Wins 30, and 1 Wins 180. These labels simply inform players about the payouts for winning wagers on each available bet.

By wagering on Doubles, you’re guessing that two out of three dice being rolled will land on the same total. For example, if the three dice landed on 2, 2, and 6 the total stands at 10 (which would form a winner for all Small bets), but the presence of a pair of dice with the same total would also form a winner for Doubles bets on that particular number.

In other words, you can bet that a Double will occur, but you must decide which number (between 1 and 6) will be the figure to land twice. You can also wager on multiple Doubles on the same roll, and with an 8 to 1 payout on your money, making two or three Doubles bets for a small denomination can result in a tidy profit should matching numbers appear.

Situated in between the Doubles bets on the Sic Bo table are the Triple bets, and these are simply an extension of the same concept. You can wager that each of the three dice will land on any identical trio, so if the dice fall 4 4 4 or 6 6 6, your Triple bet becomes a winner. Triple bets can be made in generalized fashion, with players hoping for any triple to appear for a 24 to 1 payout, or in specific fashion by guessing the exact alignment of the numbers to earn a massive 180 to 1 payout.

As the larger payouts suggest, Double and Triple bets in Sic Bo online carry a significant house edge against players. The house edge on Double bets stands at 33.3 percent when the 8 to 1 payout is in play, the house edge on exact Triple bets is 30.09 percent, while the any-Triple bet carries a house edge of 30.56 percent.

Exact Sum Bets

Exact Sum betsUnderneath the area containing Small, Large, Double, and Triple bets, you’ll notice a long horizontal rectangle which spans the length of the Sic Bo table. This area represents another set of wagers in which players attempt to guess the Exact Sum revealed by the three dice on their next roll.

The range of Exact Sum bets begins with either 4 or 17, and these wagers provide a 50 to 1 payout against a house edge of 29.17 percent. From there, the wagers move to a total of 5 or 16 (18 to 1 payout against a house edge of 47.22 percent), 6 or 15 (14 to 1 payout against a house edge of 30.56 percent), 7 or 14 (12 to 1 payout against a house edge of 23.61 percent), 8 or 13 (7 to 1 payout against a house edge of 22.22 percent), 9 or 12 (6 to 1 payout against a house edge of 18.98 percent), and 10 or 11 (6 to 1 payout against a house edge of 12.50 percent).

Combination Bets

Combination betsDirectly below the Exact Sum betting area, you’ll see 15 rectangular areas which each includes a pair of dice symbol illustrations. This area allows players to wager on Combination bets, in which you’ll guess that a specific two-number combination will appear among the three dice to be rolled. The 15 Combination bets in play on the Sic Bo table are 1 2, 1 3, 1 4, 1 5, 1 6, 2 3, 2 4, 2 5, 2 6, 3 4, 3 5, 3 6, 4 5, 4 6, and 5 6.

Whenever the exact combination you’ve wagered on appears among the three dice roll, the payout for winners stands at 5 to 1. Also known as domino bets due to the resemblance between two stacked dice and a standard domino, all Combination bets offer players a house edge of 16.67 percent.

Dice Face Bets

Dice Face betsFinally, directly below the Combination betting area, you’ll see an assortment of six squares, with each featuring individual dice faces, between 1 and 6. This area is for betting on whether a specific number will show up among the three dice rolled.

For example, a bet on the 2 dice face turns a winner whenever any of the three dice rolled happen to show a 2. By landing a single dice on the number you’ve chosen, you’ll earn a modest payout of just 1 to 1, but when the number lands twice the payout climbs to 2 to 1. Three of your numbers returns a payout of 3 to 1. The house edge offered by single number wagers stands at 7.87 percent.

For more information on the different Sic Bo betting options, visit Wikipedias‘s page on the game.

Best Casinos to Play Sic Bo Online

The following list highlights reputable online casinos currently operating worldwide, and are considered by us to be the best places to play Sic Bo online:

  • Aladdin’s Gold
  • Bet365
  • Bovada
  • Emu Casino
  • Paddy Power
  • Roxy Palace
  • Royal Vegas
  • William Hill

The following casino gaming software providers host online Sic Bo games:

  • Betsoft
  • GamesOS
  • Microgaming
  • Open Bet
  • Real Time Gaming

Online Sic Bo Strategy

Sic Bo strategy iconThe first thing to keep in mind when pondering the strategic implications of Sic Bo ibkube is that it represents a pure game of chance. So, much like roulette, do your best to avoid any mention of winning Sic Bo systems, methods by which to identify patterns, or other online Sic Bo strategy snake oil.

The truth is that Sic Bo online is a guessing game, one involving a roll of three dice which remains a purely independent event every single time. So despite sources claiming to have discovered the secret to predicting that outcome, nobody can accurately determine how three dice will land beforehand.

Fortunately for gamblers who prefer some semblance of control over the games they play, Sic Bo online shares the same fundamental strategy as another classic guessing game found in casinos all over the planet: baccarat.

Going Only for Small and Big Bets

In baccarat, savvy players know that the path to profitability can be reached by sticking to the game’s most favorable wagers while abstaining from other wagers offering a higher risk to reward ratio. To reduce the house edge in Sic Bo to just less than 3 percent, the only thing you need to remember is Small and Big.

These basic Sic Bo bets offer the lowest house edge in the game, and by keeping your wagers solely to these squares, the game becomes one of the most favorable offerings in any online casino. The trick is to resist temptation and stay away from the game’s assortment of supplementary betting options. Wagers like Double, Triple, or Combination offer significantly higher house edges while returning payouts that simply don’t justify the risk. For a full analysis on the house edge of sic bo online, visit the Wizard of Odds.

Don’t Get Caught up in the Hype

One tangible benefit of playing Sic Bo online is that you won’t encounter other players at the table who prefer to make these splashy wagers. Of course, once in a blue moon that exact triple bet will come in for those players, prompting cries of joy and hugs around the table, but in reality, they’ve likely spent dozens of rolls waiting for the right combination to occur. For players at land based casinos, watching your tablemate hit it big with one of these unfavorable bets can cause a bit of envy, leading you to try the bets out for yourself.

Play Online Sic Bo for Better Payouts

A play session of Sic Bo online removes this element of temptation for most players, leaving you alone to grind out respectable wins by wagering on Small or Big. And if you simply can’t avoid splashing a few dollars down on another wager, just be sure to do so sparingly. By doing so, you can transform Sic Bo into an entertaining table game that doesn’t drain your bankroll too quickly.

Additional Resources

  • Find answers to the most common questions about the game in our FAQ.
  • Get a better grasp on the game by reviewing the terminology.