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How to Play Sic Bo Online
Sic bo is a three-dice game with no decisions: the dice are shaken in a covered shaker, the cover is lifted, and bets on totals, repeated numbers and combinations are settled against a paytable. The paytable is the game. Pennsylvania's regulations license two different sets of payouts for the same wagers — a two of a kind pays 8 to 1 under one and 11 to 1 under the other — so what a sic bo bet is worth depends on the table, not on the game. Light & Wonder publishes 97.22% return for its own online Sic Bo.
Sic Bo at a Glance
- RTP
- 97.22% for Light & Wonder's online Sic Bo (game ID 181056) — the supplier's published figure for that game. Sic bo's return moves with the paytable in use: 58 Pa. Code § 625a.6 licenses two different paytables for the same bets
- Skill element
- No — the result is chance alone
About Sic Bo
Where These Rules Apply
The regulations quoted on this page are Pennsylvania's. Chapter 625a of 58 Pa. Code specifies this game for the physical tables Pennsylvania licenses, and it is quoted here because it is the clearest published specification of how the game is dealt and paid. It governs dealers, cards and chips at a physical table, which is not what an online version of the game runs on: an online table is specified by its operator and by whichever regulator licenses it, and its paytable and house rules can differ from the figures below.
A Game Defined by Its Paytable
Sic bo is a three-dice game. The dice are shaken inside a covered shaker, the cover is lifted, and wagers on totals, on repeated numbers and on combinations are settled. Its rules are short and it has no decisions at all. What makes sic bo unusual is that its maths is not fixed by those rules — it is fixed by a paytable that each operator chooses. Pennsylvania's table-game rule 58 Pa. Code § 625a.6 licenses two paytables for exactly the same set of wagers and allows an operator to file either one, and the gap between them is substantial: 180 to 1 against 150 to 1 on a named three of a kind, 11 to 1 against 8 to 1 on a two of a kind, 31 to 1 against 18 to 1 on a total of 5 or 16. The difference is not on every line, though. Eight wagers pay exactly the same under both paytables: Small and Big at 1 to 1, and the total value bets of 7 (12 to 1), 8 (8 to 1), 10 (6 to 1), 11 (6 to 1), 13 (8 to 1) and 14 (12 to 1). What the choice of paytable moves is the named three of a kind, the two of a kind, any three of a kind, the two-dice combination, the One of a Kind at three dice, and the outer total value bets.
The Eight Wagers
Pennsylvania's § 625a.3 authorises Small, Big, Total Value, One of a Kind, Two of a Kind, Two Dice Combination, Three of a Kind and Any Three of a Kind. Small wins on a total of 4 to 10 and Big on 11 to 17; both lose on any other total and, importantly, on any three of a kind, so a triple 4 totalling twelve still loses a Big bet. One of a Kind pays 1 to 1, 2 to 1 or — depending on the paytable — 3 to 1 or 12 to 1 as the chosen number appears on one, two or all three dice.
What Is Published, and What Is Not
No regulator, testing laboratory or game supplier publishes a house edge for any individual sic bo wager. What is published is the payouts, in full, in the regulation above, and one certified return for one named game: Light & Wonder gives 97.22% for its online Sic Bo, game ID 181056. The alternative — repeating figures with no source behind them — is how wrong numbers about this game spread, and sic bo is particularly prone to it because the right answer genuinely differs from table to table.
The Equipment Rules
The dice never leave the shaker while they are at the table. Dice in a manual shaker may not be used for play for more than 24 hours; dice locked inside an approved automated shaker may be used for up to a month. Those limits exist to keep the dice fair. What makes each shake independent of the last is a different rule: § 625a.5(b) requires the dealer at the start of every round either to cover the manual shaker and shake it at least three times 'to cause a random mixture of the dice', or to activate the automated shaker to the same end.
Variants
Super Sic Bo and Lightning Dice are regulated as separate game variations with added random multipliers, and both are published in the same Code. Super Sic Bo, under Pennsylvania's table-game rule 58 Pa. Code § 625b.1, keeps the sic bo wagers and adds an odd and an even option; its base paytable at § 625b.1(d) is a floor, and on every line it is equal to or better than Paytable A above — any three of a kind at 30 to 1 against 24, totals of 5 and 16 at 20 against 18, and totals of 6 and 15 at 15 against 14, with every other line the same — so the multiplier is not paid for out of the base price. Lightning Dice, under § 625b.2, is a narrower game, not the same one: § 625b.2(e) gives it five wager options — a low bet, a high bet, any double, any triple and a total value bet — dropping the named Three of a Kind, named Two of a Kind, Two Dice Combination and One of a Kind, and its base paytable in § 625b.2(f) is a floor in the same way, setting Low (3—9) and High (12—18) at no less than 1 to 1 and a total value bet of 3 at no less than 149 to 1, a bet sic bo does not offer at all.
Basic Sic Bo Rules
The Object of the Game
Sic bo is a dice game played with three dice. The dice are shaken in a covered shaker, the cover is lifted, and bets are settled on what the three faces show. There is no hand to play and no decision to make: a player chooses bets, and the dice decide.
The Bets
Pennsylvania's regulations authorise eight wagers:
- Small — the three dice total 4 to 10.
- Big — the three dice total 11 to 17.
- Total Value Bet — an exact total.
- One of a Kind — a chosen number appears on at least one die.
- Two of a Kind — a chosen number appears on two dice.
- Two Dice Combination — two chosen different numbers both appear.
- Three of a Kind — a chosen number appears on all three dice.
- Any Three of a Kind — all three dice match, whatever the number.
The Catch on Big and Small
Big and Small are the two even-money bets and look like the dice equivalent of red and black. They are not quite. Both lose when the dice come up as a three of a kind, even where that triple's total falls inside the winning range — a triple 4, totalling 12, loses a Big bet. That exception is written into the regulation and it is where the house edge on those two bets comes from.
Two Paytables, One Game
Sic bo's payouts are not fixed by the rules of the game. Pennsylvania's table-game rule 58 Pa. Code § 625a.6 licenses two paytables and lets each operator file the one it will use. The differences are large:
| Wager | Paytable A | Paytable B |
|---|---|---|
| Three of a Kind | 150 to 1 | 180 to 1 |
| Two of a Kind | 8 to 1 | 11 to 1 |
| Any Three of a Kind | 24 to 1 | 31 to 1 |
| Total of 4 or 17 | 50 to 1 | 62 to 1 |
| Total of 5 or 16 | 18 to 1 | 31 to 1 |
| Two Dice Combination | 5 to 1 | 6 to 1 |
| Big or Small | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 |
The same bet on the same three dice can be paid 8 to 1 at one table and 11 to 1 at another. Eight wagers pay the same under both: Small and Big at 1 to 1, and the total value bets of 7, 8, 10, 11, 13 and 14.
How the Round Runs
- Bets are placed on the layout, which shows every available wager.
- The dice are shaken inside the shaker. A manual shaker's dice may not be used for more than 24 hours; dice locked in an automated shaker may be used for up to a month.
- The cover is lifted and the three faces are read.
- Every bet is settled against the paytable the operator has filed.
Variants
Pennsylvania regulates Super Sic Bo and Lightning Dice as separate games built on this chapter's wagers, with added multipliers. Those multipliers are not paid for out of the base payouts: § 625b.1(d) sets Super Sic Bo's base at odds no lower than its own paytable, and that paytable is equal to or better than sic bo's Paytable A on every line. A variant's maths is still its own.
Sic Bo Strategy
There Are No Decisions, Only Prices
Nothing in sic bo is played. Three dice are shaken and read, and every wager is settled against a published paytable. What a player can do is compare paytables and compare bets, and in sic bo those two comparisons are unusually consequential because the regulation itself licenses two different sets of payouts for the same wagers.
Check Which Paytable the Table Uses
Under Pennsylvania's table-game rule 58 Pa. Code § 625a.6 an operator files either Paytable A or Paytable B. On Paytable B a Two of a Kind pays 11 to 1 where Paytable A pays 8 to 1; a Three of a Kind pays 180 to 1 against 150 to 1; a total of 5 or 16 pays 31 to 1 against 18 to 1. The bet is identical and so are the dice. The only thing that differs is what the house pays, which means a sic bo table's paytable is the single most informative thing about it. Eight of the wagers do pay the same under both: Small and Big at 1 to 1, and the total value bets of 7, 8, 10, 11, 13 and 14.
The Even-Money Bets Are Not Even
Big and Small pay 1 to 1 but lose on any three of a kind, even a triple whose total sits inside the winning range. That exception, not the payout, is the house's margin on those two bets, and it is why they are the two cheapest bets on the layout under either paytable while still not being break-even.
The Middle of the Layout
The exact-total bets, the triples and the two-of-a-kind bets are the long-odds wagers, and they are the ones where the two paytables diverge most. A table running the shorter paytable is charging materially more for the same bet. No regulator, testing lab or supplier publishes a percentage for any individual sic bo wager. What is published is the payouts, which are above, and one certified return for one named game.
What Does Not Work
The dice are kept inside a shaker and the player never touches them. Each shake is independent of the last, so a total that has not appeared is not more likely next, and no staking pattern changes the price of a bet. There is no sic bo wager with a positive expectation for the player under either licensed paytable.
Your Options on Every Hand
Small Bet
That the three dice total 4 to 10. Loses on any other total and on any three of a kind. Paid 1 to 1 under both of Pennsylvania's licensed paytables.
Big Bet
That the three dice total 11 to 17. Loses on any other total and on any three of a kind. Paid 1 to 1 under both paytables.
Total Value Bet
On an exact total of the three dice. Payouts run from 6 to 1 on the middle totals up to 50 to 1 or 62 to 1 on a total of 4 or 17, depending on which paytable the operator has filed.
One of a Kind
On a single number appearing on at least one die. Paid 1 to 1 if one die shows it, 2 to 1 if two do, and 3 to 1 or 12 to 1 if all three do, depending on the paytable — a factor of four, and the widest proportional gap between Pennsylvania's two licensed paytables.
Two of a Kind
On a chosen number appearing on exactly two of the three dice. Paid 8 to 1 under Paytable A or 11 to 1 under Paytable B — one of the lines the operator's choice of paytable moves.
Two Dice Combination
On two specific different numbers both appearing. Paid 5 to 1 or 6 to 1 depending on the paytable.
Three of a Kind
On a chosen number appearing on all three dice. Paid 150 to 1 under Paytable A or 180 to 1 under Paytable B.
Any Three of a Kind
On all three dice matching, whatever the number. Paid 24 to 1 or 31 to 1 depending on the paytable.
There is a live dealer version of Sic Bo. It is dealt by a real dealer at a real table and streamed to you, which changes the pace and the table limits rather than the rules. Read the live dealer Sic Bo guide.
Where to Play Sic Bo Online
We have not yet recorded any casino we list as offering Sic Bo.
Sources
The regulations, regulators and supplier pages behind the rules and figures above. Every one is checkable, and the first mention of each in the text links straight to it.