What is Sic Bo?
Asia had a huge contribution of gambling all over the world. The most important instruments used for gambling are of Asian origin – playing cards and dice. Many games played in casinos are based on Asian ancestors. Some of them, like Pai Gow poker, are re-imagined versions of their original Asian predecessors, others, like Sic Bo, are only adapted to modern times.
Sic Bo is a Chinese game, very popular in the casinos of Macau and the Philippines. It’s a game of chance, played with dice – the name of the game, Sic Bo, means ‘pair of dice’ in Chinese. Actually, it’s played with three dice…
In Sic Bo players can bet on the results of the three dice used. It has a lot of betting options, some with huge payouts. The game is played on a specific table, with sections for all betting options on it, as follows:
– high values (11 to 17) and low values (4 to 10) – the safest bet in Sic Bo. It pays 1 to 1. This bet is lost if a triple is rolled.
– total value of the dice, with different payouts depending on the total. 4 and 17 pay 1 to 60, 5 and 16 pay 1 to 30, and so on. All these payouts are to be found on the corresponding section of the Sic Bo table.
– triples – three dice showing the same number. Any triple pays 1 to 30, specific triples pay 1 to 180. Some casinos offer special bets on specific triples (like 444 or 111) offer special bonuses.
– doubles – any two dice showing the same number. These bets usually pay 1 to 10.
– combinations of two dice – there are 15 possible combinations to bet on (like 1 and 4, 4 and 6, 5 and 6, and so on). If any two of the three dice give the combination of numbers the player has placed his bet upon, the payout is 5 to 1.
– single numbers – players can bet on any one number between 1 and 6. If the number appeasr on one die the payout is 1 to 1, if it appears on two dice – 2 to 1, and if it appears on three dice – 3 to 1.
Some bets are only available in Asian casinos, like odd or even total of the dice (paying 1 to 1), 3 out of 4 (the player bets on four numbers, any three of the four pays 7 to 1). Also, Asian casinos use dice with faces in different colours and with different shapes on them. These are also used for betting. In the American version these best are not used at all.
Sic Bo is a fast paced, action-packed game of chance, worth playing for fun. Also, its payout table is impressive – but you need a consistent amount of luck to win big. Anyway – good luck playing Sic Bo.
