Sic Bo is a game of chance played with three dice. The name literally means ‘dice pair’ and originates in China, although no one is sure of how old the game is. As with Keno, Sic Bo was brought over to the United States and Europe with Chinese immigrants. The popular American game ‘Grand Hazard’ is thought to have been heavily influenced by Sic Bo.
Sic Bo is played on specially designed tables and is incredibly easy to learn and play. There is a round of betting in which players try to predict the outcome of three dice, three dice are thrown by a croupier, and that’s that!
Players can bet on an individual dice or the combination of the three. There are many types of bet that a player can make in Sic Bo:
- Single number bets – choose a number (1-6) and if one dice is correct, you will be paid out at 1:1. If two dice are correct you will be paid out at 2:1 and if all three are correct you will be paid out at 3:1.
- Two number combinations – you are predicting that two numbers will come up when the dice are thrown. The payout is 6:1.
- Three number totals – this bet is made in the centre of the Sic Bo table on the squares marked 4-17. You are guessing the combined total of the dice with this bet. Since some combos are easier to make than others, there are different payouts for these types of bet:
4 or 17 - 50:1
5 or 16 – 25:1
6 or 15 – 15:1
7 or 14 – 10:1
8 or 13 - 6:1
9 or 12 – 5:1
10 or 11 – 5:1
Also note that totals of 3 and 18 are an automatic loss.
- Small or big wager – there is a small (‘petit’) area and a big (‘grand’) area on the Sic Bo table. A bet in the small area is for the combination of the three dice to add up to 4-11. A bet in the big area is for the combination to add up to 11-17. The odds are 1:1.
- Triplet and pair bets – a bet that a particular triplet will be thrown pays at odds of 150:1. A bet that any triplet will be thrown pays at odds of 25:1. A bet that a particular pair will be thrown pays at odds of 11-1.
