Live Dealer 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. Pennsylvania's own interactive gaming rule, 58 Pa. Code § 816a.1(d), carries only three things across to a live-dealer stream — the surveillance requirement at § 465a.9, the dealer training standards in Chapter 611a, and game approval under Chapter 816a — so this chapter does not itself govern the stream you open. Outside Pennsylvania the table is specified by the operator and by whichever regulator licenses it, and the figures can differ.

What Live-Dealer Sic Bo Is

Live-dealer sic bo is a physical shake of three dice, performed by a person in a studio, with a betting grid presented beside the stream. Ezugi, whose live Sic Bo is published on Evolution's own games site, puts it in one line: the objective is to predict the outcome of the shake of the three dice. Every bet on the layout is settled against the three faces shown, and no decision is taken after the shake.

The Studio Is Regulated as Well as the Game

In Pennsylvania the live studio has its own chapter. 58 Pa. Code § 816a.1 requires Board approval to simulcast authorised table games and separate approval for the studio's location, and the entity producing, hosting or otherwise providing the live studio service must be licensed before it does so. Table game simulcasting must run through a simulcast control server that gives the player real-time visual access, prevents anyone accessing the outcome before a wager is finalised, records dealer-verified game results before posting, and can void a result. Dealers come under Chapter 611a, where the minimum curriculum for sic bo and the big six wheel is 30 hours of instruction over a two-week period — the shortest of the game-type minimums in that table.

The Dice and the Shaker

Three ordinary dice with face values 1 to 6 are used. Pennsylvania's table-game rule 58 Pa. Code § 625a.2 requires them to be kept inside the sic bo shaker while at the table, and provides that dice placed in a manual shaker may not be used for play for more than 24 hours.

The Bets

Pennsylvania's table-game rule 58 Pa. Code § 625a.3 sets them out. A Small Bet wins on a total of 4 to 10 and a Big Bet on a total of 11 to 17, and both lose if a three of a kind appears. A Two of a Kind wins when a chosen number shows on two of the three dice and a Three of a Kind when it shows on all three. A One of a Kind wins when one or more of the dice shows the number wagered on. Evolution's Super Sic Bo lays the grid out as 14 total-value areas labelled 4 to 17 and all 15 possible two-dice combinations, and adds odd and even bets on the total.

Two Licensed Paytables, Not One

This is the fact most sic bo guides leave out. Pennsylvania's table-game rule 58 Pa. Code § 625a.6 licenses two paytables and the operator files which one it uses. Three of a kind pays 150 to 1 on Paytable A and 180 to 1 on Paytable B. Any three of a kind pays 24 to 1 or 31 to 1. Two of a kind pays 8 to 1 or 11 to 1. A total of 5 pays 18 to 1 or 31 to 1. Any two-dice combination pays 5 to 1 or 6 to 1. A One of a Kind wager pays 1 to 1 when one die matches and 2 to 1 when two do, and then either 3 to 1 or 12 to 1 when all three match, depending on the filed paytable. Small and Big pay 1 to 1 under both.

The Multiplier Variants, and What They Exclude

Pennsylvania licenses Super Sic Bo as a game variation by name. Under Pennsylvania's table-game rule 58 Pa. Code § 625b.1(d) a certificate holder must pay winning Super Sic Bo wagers at no less than the odds in its base paytable: three of a kind 150 to 1, any three of a kind 30 to 1, two of a kind 8 to 1, a total of 4 or 17 50 to 1, and small, big, odd and even 1 to 1. Those are minimums rather than a fixed price. After no more bets is announced but before the winning wager is established, a randomly generated multiplier may be applied to one or more betting positions — with the exception of the small bet, big bet, odd and even positions. The multiplied payouts fall inside published ranges: three of a kind from 150 to 999 to 1, a total of 4 or 17 from 50 to 499 to 1, two of a kind from 8 to 87 to 1, any two dice combination from 5 to 24 to 1. Evolution publishes multipliers of up to 1000x on Super Sic Bo in every game round, and Ezugi publishes Ultimate Sic Bo, streamed from its own studio.

House Edge and Return Figures

No regulator, provider or testing lab publishes a house edge or a return-to-player figure for a named live sic bo table, and no studio publishes a table minimum or maximum for one. Pennsylvania's interactive gaming rule 58 Pa. Code § 816a.1 requires the table minimum and maximum, dealer actions and payout odds to be readily available on the site before play begins and throughout play, which is where a player reads them for the table in front of them.

What Is Being Streamed

A live-dealer sic bo round is a physical shake of three dice by a person in a studio, with the betting grid presented alongside the stream. In Pennsylvania the studio is regulated separately from the game: 58 Pa. Code § 816a.1 requires Board approval to simulcast authorised table games and separate approval for the studio's location, requires the entity producing or hosting the live studio service to be licensed, and requires the simulcast control server to give the player real-time visual access, to prevent anyone accessing the outcome before a wager is finalised, to record dealer-verified game results before posting, and to be able to void a result. Dealers come under Chapter 611a, whose minimum curriculum for sic bo and the big six wheel is 30 hours of instruction over two weeks.

The Equipment

Three ordinary dice with face values 1 to 6 are used. Pennsylvania's table-game rule 58 Pa. Code § 625a.2 requires them to be kept inside the sic bo shaker while at the table, and the dice placed in a manual shaker may not be used for play for more than 24 hours.

How a Round Runs

1. Bets are placed on the grid while the betting window is open.
2. No more bets is announced.
3. The dealer shakes the three dice and reveals them.
4. Every bet on the layout is settled against the three faces shown.

The Bets

• Small wins on a total of 4 to 10 and Big on a total of 11 to 17. Both lose to any three of a kind.
• Total value bets cover an exact total; Evolution's Super Sic Bo lays out 14 areas, labelled 4 to 17.
• One of a Kind wins if one or more dice show the chosen number, paying more as more dice match.
• Two of a Kind and Three of a Kind win on a chosen number appearing twice or three times.
• Any Three of a Kind covers all six three-of-a-kind outcomes at once.
• Two dice combinations cover a specific pair of faces; Super Sic Bo offers all 15.
• Odd and Even on the total are added by the Super Sic Bo variation.

What Is Paid

Pennsylvania's table-game rule 58 Pa. Code § 625a.6 licenses two paytables and the operator files which one it uses, so the same bet pays differently from table to table. Three of a kind pays 150 to 1 on Paytable A and 180 to 1 on Paytable B. Any three of a kind pays 24 to 1 or 31 to 1. Two of a kind pays 8 to 1 or 11 to 1. A total of 4 pays 50 to 1 or 62 to 1. Small and Big pay 1 to 1 on both.

Multiplier Tables

Super Sic Bo and Ultimate Sic Bo add random multipliers. Pennsylvania licenses Super Sic Bo as a game variation in its own right: under 58 Pa. Code § 625b.1 a randomly generated multiplier may be applied to one or more betting positions after no more bets is announced but before the winning wager is established, with the small, big, odd and even positions excluded. The regulation publishes the resulting ranges — three of a kind from 150 to 999 to 1, a total of 4 or 17 from 50 to 499 to 1, any two dice combination from 5 to 24 to 1. Evolution publishes multipliers of up to 1000x on Super Sic Bo, and Ezugi publishes the same on Ultimate Sic Bo.

What the Table Has to Show

Under Pennsylvania's interactive gaming rule 58 Pa. Code § 816a.1 the table minimum and maximum wagers, dealer actions and the payout odds must be readily available on the site before play begins and throughout play. With two licensed paytables for standard sic bo and a multiplier range for Super Sic Bo, those displayed payout odds are the only reliable way to know what a given table pays.

What There Is to Decide

Sic bo offers no decision after the dice are shaken. Ezugi describes its live Sic Bo as a game of chance and Evolution says the same of Super Sic Bo. The choice is which of the wagers on the grid to place, and that choice decides what the bet pays rather than whether it wins.

The Same Bet Does Not Pay the Same Everywhere

Pennsylvania's table-game rule 58 Pa. Code § 625a.6 licenses two paytables for sic bo, and the operator files which one applies. On most bets the two differ: three of a kind pays 150 to 1 or 180 to 1, any three of a kind 24 to 1 or 31 to 1, two of a kind 8 to 1 or 11 to 1, a total of 5 either 18 to 1 or 31 to 1, and a one of a kind on all three dice either 3 to 1 or 12 to 1. Small and Big pay 1 to 1 under both. A payout figure quoted for sic bo in general is quoting one of two licensed answers, and the table's own displayed odds are the one that applies.

Multipliers Are Not Applied Everywhere on the Grid

On a Super Sic Bo table the random multiplier is the attraction, and the regulation is specific about where it cannot go: under Pennsylvania's table-game rule 58 Pa. Code § 625b.1 a multiplier may be applied to one or more betting positions with the exception of small bet, big bet, odd and even. Those four are the lowest-paying, most frequently winning bets on the layout, and they are exactly the ones the multiplier skips. The published multiplied ranges apply to the rest — three of a kind from 150 to 999 to 1, a total of 4 or 17 from 50 to 499 to 1, two of a kind from 8 to 87 to 1.

No House Edge Is Published

No regulator, provider or testing lab publishes a house edge or a return figure for a named live sic bo table. The payouts are published and are set out above; the cost of each bet is not published. The one thing that can be said from the published paytables is that the figures differ by bet and by filed paytable, and no betting pattern changes any of them.

Statistics Displays

Ezugi publishes that its live Sic Bo gives easy-to-read statistics on previous winning numbers. Each shake is settled independently against the three faces shown, under payout odds fixed in the operator's filed rules. A record of previous results does not change those odds, and no bet on a sic bo layout has a positive expectation for the player.