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AIM OF THE GAME
Sic Bo is a casino dice game. The name Sic Bo
means "dice pair in Chinese, although the game is actually played
with three dice. The object of the game is to place bets on the
numbers that come up when the dice come to rest.
HOW TO PLAY
Sic Bo is played
with three dice. At land-based casinos, the dice are shaken around
in a cage-like contraption for a minute until they come to rest. At
online casinos, a random number generator controls the roll of the
virtual dice.
When you first look at the Sic Bo layout, it might look like a big
inscrutable mess. So take a deep breath, relax, and take a second
look. You will soon learn that Sic Bo is not so difficult after all.
As on a roulette table, each area of the Sic Bo table indicates a
type of bet. To play Sic Bo, you first make your bet by selecting a
chip size and placing your chip on the appropriate area of the
table. Also as in roulette, you can make more than one bet on the
same roll.
The simplest Sic Bo bets are Small and Big. A Small bet wins if the
three-dice total is 4 to 10; a Big bet wins if it is 11 to 17. But
note that, under the rules of Sic Bo, Small and Big both lose if a
triple is rolled.
Besides Small and Big, there are many possible Sic Bo bets you can
make. You can bet on a specific triple, on any triple, or on a
specific double. You can bet on the three-dice total, or on a
two-dice combination or a single die. Each bet has its own area on
the table, which also tells you the payout odds if the bet wins. And
don't forget, you can make multiple bets on the same roll of the
dice.
After you make your bet, you click the roll button. The three
virtual dice roll around inside the virtual cage, and then the cover
is lifted to reveal the outcome. The areas of the Sic Bo table
corresponding to winning wagers light up to signify the winners.
The easiest bets to win are the Small and Big bets. Each of these
will come up almost, but not quite, 50 percent of the time. The
payout odds on a Small or Big bet is even money, 1-to-1.
The hardest bet is a specific triple. You can bet, for example, that
all three dice will show a 2. This bet pays odds of 180-to-1. It
doesn't win very often but when it does, it can be a big thrill to
see, for example, a £10 bet win you £1,800.
There are 8 different ways you
can bet.
1) You can bet on one number,
which must appear on all three dice. This is called a Three of a
Kind. Obviously, you have the least chances of hitting a winning
bet, as there are 216 (6 X 6 X 6) dice combinations and only one of
them can give you a 1,1,1 or 2,2,2 or 3,3,3 or 4,4,4 or 5,5,5 or
6,6,6. If you do win however, it pays 150 to 1. Considering your
winning chances to be 1 out of 216, this gives the casino a huge
advantage.
2) You can bet on one number,
which must appear on two of the three dice. This is called a Two of
a Kind, such as a 1,1 or 2,2 or 3,3 or 4,4 or 5,5, or 6,6. This
pays 8 to 1, although your chances of winning is 5.82%, as there are
12 ways of making such a combination.
3) You can bet that the same
number from 1 to 6 will appear on all three dice, such as either a
1,1,1 or 2,2,2 or 3,3,3 or 4,4,4 or 5,5,5 or 6,6,6. This is called
Any Three of a Kind and it pays 24 to 1. You have 6 times more
chances to win relative to the Three of a Kind. The probability is
still 6 out of 216 or about 2.78%.
4) There is an area called
Small, that pays even money, where you bet that the sum of the three
dice will be equal to 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 10 excluding a Three of a
Kind. That's why the 3 (3 ones) is not a winning bet, neither are
the hardways 6 and 9, which provides the casino edge.
5) Similarly, there is an area
called Big, that also pays even money, where you bet that the sum of
the three dice will be equal to 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, or 17
excluding a Three of a Kind. That's why the 18 (3 sixes) is not a
winning bet, neither are the hardways 12 and 15, which again
provides the casino edge.
6) On the Sic Bo layout, there
is a wide area with the numbers 4 to 17 written on them. Those
numbers correspond to the sum of the three dice. So, you bet on a
number from 4 to 17, which are the sum of all 3 dice and the payout
table is as follows:
|
Sum |
Winning Bets Paid |
|
4 |
50 to 1 |
|
5 |
30 to 1 |
|
6 |
18 to 1 |
|
7 |
12 to 1 |
|
8 |
8 to 1 |
|
9 |
6 to 1 |
|
10 |
6 to 1 |
|
11 |
6 to 1 |
|
12 |
6 to 1 |
|
13 |
8 to 1 |
|
14 |
12 to 1 |
|
15 |
18 to 1 |
|
16 |
30 to 1 |
|
17 |
50 to 1 |
You can see the symmetrical
pattern of payouts, depending on the dice combinations and their
probability of appearance, always with an edge on the casino side,
of course.
7) You can bet
on two different numbers, which must appear on at least two of the
three dice. This bet is called Duo, and it pays 5 to 1. The dice
combinations you can bet on are: 1,2 or 1,3 or 1,4 or 1,5 or 1,6 or
2,3 or 2,4 or 2,5 or 2,6 or 3,4 or 3,5 or 3,6 or 4,5 or 4,6 or 5,6,
as long as the two numbers are not the same.
8) And the last type of bet is
called a simple One of a Kind, where you bet on a single number that
must appear on one, two or all three dice. This is shown in the
layout as the dice face 1, or 2, or 3, or 4, or 5, or 6.
The payout table of this bet
depends on the following:
If the number you chose appears
on one of the three dice, you are paid even;
If the number you chose appears
on two of the three dice, you are paid 2 to 1;
If the number you chose appears
on three of the three dice, you are paid 3 to 1.
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