Basic Sic Bo rules
The dealer shakes three dice in a covered shaker, or an automatic machine does it, and then the dice are revealed. Before that, you place chips on boxes on the board: the total of all three dice, a particular number, a pair of numbers or a triple. Each box pays if the dice meet its condition. Nothing else needs deciding once betting closes — the round is settled entirely by the dice.
Because each die has six faces, three dice produce 6 × 6 × 6 = 216 equally likely combinations. That number, 216, is the key to every payout in the game: the count of combinations that win a bet, divided by 216, is the true chance of that bet.
The bets on a Sic Bo board
- Small and Big — a total of 4 to 10 (Small) or 11 to 17 (Big). Both lose when a triple lands, even if the total is inside the range.
- Odd and Even — an odd or even total. On most tables these also lose to a triple.
- Specific total — guessing the exact total from 4 to 17. Totals of 3 and 18 are not offered because only a triple 1 or triple 6 can make them.
- Single number — picking one number from 1 to 6. The payout rises if it shows on two or three dice.
- Two-dice combination — two different numbers, say 2 and 5, must both appear in the same roll.
- Specific double — at least two dice show the number you chose.
- Specific triple and any triple — all three dice match, either on your chosen number or on any number.
Sic Bo payout table with the true probabilities
The table uses payouts that are common on Asian-style tables. Real payouts vary between studios, so a "fair payout" column is included: that is the payout at which a bet would carry no house edge at all. The further a table's payout sits below the fair figure, the more that bet costs you.
| Bet | Winning combinations (of 216) | Chance | Fair payout | Common payout | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small or Big | 105 | 48.61% | 1.06:1 | 1:1 | 2.78% |
| Single number | 91 (at least once) | 42.13% | — | 1:1 / 2:1 / 3:1 | 7.87% |
| Total 10 or 11 | 27 | 12.50% | 7:1 | 6:1 | 12.50% |
| Total 9 or 12 | 25 | 11.57% | 7.6:1 | 6:1 | 18.98% |
| Total 8 or 13 | 21 | 9.72% | 9.3:1 | 8:1 | 12.50% |
| Total 7 or 14 | 15 | 6.94% | 13.4:1 | 12:1 | 9.72% |
| Total 6 or 15 | 10 | 4.63% | 20.6:1 | 17:1 | 16.67% |
| Total 5 or 16 | 6 | 2.78% | 35:1 | 30:1 | 13.89% |
| Total 4 or 17 | 3 | 1.39% | 71:1 | 60:1 | 15.28% |
| Two-dice combination | 30 | 13.89% | 6.2:1 | 5:1 | 16.67% |
| Specific double | 16 | 7.41% | 12.5:1 | 10:1 | 18.52% |
| Any triple | 6 | 2.78% | 35:1 | 30:1 | 13.89% |
| Specific triple | 1 | 0.46% | 215:1 | 150:1 | 30.09% |
The single-number bet works slightly differently: your number shows on exactly one die in 75 combinations, on two dice in 15 and on all three in 1. With payouts of 1:1, 2:1 and 3:1, the average return comes out 7.87% below the amount staked.
Working out the house edge yourself
You do not have to rely on anyone else's table. For any bet that pays a fixed amount, use this formula:
House edge = 1 − (payout + 1) × chance of winning
Take the total of 7, which wins in 15 of the 216 combinations. At 12:1 the average return is 13 × 15 ÷ 216 = 0.903, so the house edge is about 9.7%. A second useful fact: on the total of 7, every single point knocked off the payout (12:1 becoming 11:1, for example) adds roughly 7 percentage points to the cost. That is why opening the table's help menu and reading the paytable before you bet is a habit that pays for itself.
Sic Bo bets worth making — and the ones to avoid
Big and Small (plus Odd and Even where offered) are the only bets with a house edge under 3%. Every other box charges somewhere between about 8% and 30% of each ringgit. For comparison, the Banker bet in baccarat costs around 1.06%.
The gap looks small in percentages and large in ringgit. Staking RM10 a round for 60 rounds (RM600 in total), the average expected loss is:
- Big or Small: about RM17
- Single number: about RM47
- Total of 9 or 12: about RM114
- Specific triple: about RM180
These are long-run averages, not a forecast of your session — one triple can pay 150 times the stake. But the average decides how long a budget lasts.
"Hot numbers" and Sic Bo strategy myths
The history display beside the table shows which totals and numbers have landed recently. It is interesting to look at, but dice have no memory: every shake starts again from the same 216 combinations. A total of 10 that has not appeared for 30 rounds is not "due".
Searches such as "sic bo strategy that always wins" or "winning formula calculator" promise something the maths does not allow. Doubling up after a loss changes the shape of your results, not their cost. Covering Big and Small together looks safe, but when a triple lands — about once every 36 rounds — both bets lose, and no other round ever shows a profit. We put systems such as the Martingale through real numbers in our roulette betting system test; the conclusion is the same for Sic Bo.
Super Sic Bo and multiplier versions
Some studios offer Sic Bo with random multipliers that can boost the payout on certain bets dramatically. To fund those multipliers, the base payouts on some boxes are lower than the regular paytable, so the figures above do not apply. The right reference is the RTP published in that game's own help screen.
A checklist before you sit down at a Sic Bo table
- Open the table's paytable and check what it pays for Big, Small and the triples.
- Set a session budget and a loss limit first — see how to set spending limits.
- Make Big or Small your main bet; treat the other boxes as expensive entertainment with small chips.
- Ignore the hot-number charts and never chase losses.
- Compare with other games: what Dragon Tiger costs next to baccarat and the live casino studios at MYCS33.
Questions players ask
Is Sic Bo better than baccarat?
On cost, no. The cheapest Sic Bo bets, Big and Small, carry a house edge of about 2.78% — more than double the Banker bet in baccarat. Sic Bo suits players who enjoy the feel of a dice game and keep their stakes small.
Why do Big and Small lose on a triple?
That rule is where the house edge on both bets comes from. Without it, Big and Small would each win exactly half the time and a 1:1 payout would be fair. The six triples among 216 combinations give the house its 2.78%.
Can a calculator or formula predict the dice?
No. Every shake is independent of the ones before, so no formula can predict the next total. A calculator is only useful for working out what a bet costs, like the formula in this article.