Although Sic Bo is a game of chance, it's not exactly a beginner-friendly one. In short, there are good and bad ways to play Sic Bo which can significantly impact the game's profitability in the long term.
And while it is a simple game to play, Sic Bo can take some getting used to. With many online casinos now offering the chance to enjoy live dealer table games, players can engage in a live interactive version of Sic Bo and have the ability to chat with payers and watch the entire game unfold live. However, this game is all about player choice.
Your choice of which bet to play in Sic Bo matters. So does your choice of Sic Bo tables and casinos. Our Sic Bo strategy guide explains in detail why these decisions are important and how you can make the best ones.
Sic Bo live game is not difficult to play once it is completely understood, but it will take some time to master it and to be able to employ strategies for enhanced payouts.
As our introduction mentions, not all bets in Sic Bo are equal. The way you choose them is the key to a good Sic Bo strategy. It’s a good thing, too, because deciding what to play and how much to bet are the only two things you can control in Sic Bo.
For starters, it’s important to understand that Sic Bo is a game of chance. You, the player, can’t influence how the dice will roll. You place your bets, and Lady Luck takes it from there. However, your chances of succeeding with some bets are better than with others. And no – we’re not referring to the payouts. In theory, Sic Bo payouts are proportional to the risk you take when you play them. In practice, however, this ratio is not always the same.
Smart betting is all about betting value. In short, this is the ratio between a bet’s payout and its likelihood of success. Online live casinos exist to make money, which is why this ratio slightly favors the casino. That’s called a house edge, and it exists in every bet in every game in every casino. That’s just the nature of gambling and something you have to accept if you want to play.
As many of you know, the Return to Player, or RTP, essentially depicts this house edge. In fact, the formula for calculating Sic Bo RTP is subtracting the house edge from 100%.
We covered all of this for one important reason: not all bets in Sic Bo have the same RTP. Picking the best Sic Bo bets boils down to picking the ones with the highest RTP.
Before we cover everything, we highly recommend that you read our Sic Bo tutorial first. Not only does it cover how bets in Sic Bo work, but it also explains their probability of success and the payouts.
Once you’re familiar with all Sic Bo bets, we can dive into their respective RTP values.
Sic Bo Payouts | |||
Bet | Payout | Probability | RTP |
Small/Big | 1:1 | 48.61% | 97.22% |
Even/Odds | 1:1 | 48.61% | 97.22% |
Double | 11:1 | 7.41% | 88.9% |
Triple | 180:1 | 0.46% | 83.8% |
Any Triple | 31:1 | 2.8% | 88.9% |
Total 4 or 17 | 62:1 | 1.4% | 87.5% |
Total 5 or 16 | 31:1 | 2.8% | 89.9% |
Total 6 or 15 | 18:1 | 4.6% | 88% |
Total 7 or 14 | 12:1 | 6.9% | 90.03% |
Total 8 or 13 | 8:1 | 9.7% | 87.5% |
Total 9 or 12 | 7:1 | 11.6% | 92.6% |
Total 10 or 11 | 6:1 | 12.5% | 87.5% |
Combination | 6:1 | 13.9% | 97.2% |
Single | 1:1, 2:1 if Double result, 12:1 if Triple | 34.72%, 6.94% for Double, 0.46% for Triple | 96.3% |
So, which bets in Sic Bo are the best? The ones with the highest RTP, of course! Just be sure that the payouts work exactly as presented on this table (or are higher, which you shouldn’t expect to find anywhere.) If the payouts are lower, so is the RTP, and the Sic Bo statistics we listed are off.
As you can see on the table above, the best bets to make in Sic Bo are:
Does this mean these are the only bets you should ever play? Not really. Fun is the ultimate goal of every live dealer casino game, and you should play whatever brings you the most excitement.
However, you should always keep this Sic Bo paytable in mind if your goal is to play optimally.
The simplest, most beginner-friendly basic strategy is to just play Big and Small bets. These are the “original” wagers of this game, and some evidence suggests that they used to be the only options in this casino classic.
There is a great advantage to a big and small bet strategy when playing live Sic Bo. The reason for this is that the dealer will have the least statistical advantage, only at 2.8%. This provides players with about the same odds as if they were playing European Roulette. Both of these betting strategies will pay even money. Big bets will include any dice totals from the three dice that range from 4 to 10 and small bets include totals that range from 10 to 17.
Odd/Even Sic Bo bets have roughly the same odds, so they can be used instead.
It’s not the most fun of Sic Bo strategies, but it’s simple and gets the job done.
One of the most beneficial strategies when playing live dealer Sic Bo is knowing the odds going into the game.
No matter what some Sic Bo strategy guides online might claim, there is no real reliable way to overcome a house advantage. If there were, the casinos would be quick to get rid of it. However, you can (and should) do everything in your power to minimize this advantage.
The house edge in Sic Bo is quite high relative to most other live casino games. You need all the help you can get if you want to win, which includes taking advantage of live casino bonuses. Bonuses won’t improve your chances of winning, but they can bolster your bankroll with free funds. Remember – winning casino games i not about winning as many bets as possible. It’s about earning more than you invest, which is very hard to do. If you’re smart about using live casino bonuses, you can have some of the free funds left by the time you complete the wagering requirements. At that point, you can be considered “in the green.”
You can find some great live casino Sic Bo bonus offers here. Moreover, we’ve hand-picked some top-notch offers – click on them below to go to the casino in question:
If you’re looking for something with more substance, you can also try bet hedging. This advanced Sic Bo strategy is not quite as statistically strong, but it’s more enjoyable and leaves room for bigger profits.
If you’re not familiar with the term, hedge bets are wagers that bet on opposite results of the same game. In the context of Sic Bo, however, we’ll expand the idea to include simply placing multiple bets per round. The trick is knowing which bets combine well with which other bets.
The idea is quite simple – you want to combine a “safe” bet that is likely to win with a riskier option that can bring substantial returns. A beginner-friendly option would be a combination bet plus an odd/even wager.
Why is this a Sic Bo strategy and not just a random bet combination, you might ask? First of all, we picked two of the best odds bets in Sic Bo. Secondly, it’s because of the intent of the bets. The Odd/Even wager is there to win almost 50% of all rounds. It will keep your bankroll topped up as you try to get the combination bet right. In contrast, the combination bet is there for a chance to get a bigger payout and actually turn a profit.
A Single bet is also worthwhile – though you should keep in mind that you’ll only “strike big” if your chosen bet hits a Triple. It’s not a likely outcome, but Single bets win more often than Combinations. The idea is to essentially just cover your expenses until you get lucky with a Double or Triple.
Remember the odds we posted above? Well, they aren’t always strictly true. In fact, in many live Sic Bo tables, the payouts are smaller for some bets while their probability of success remains the same. This directly translates to weaker RTP. Needless to say, this is bad.
So how do you find good online Sic Bo games? You check the paytable – every game has one. If the payouts are lower, you find another table.
Below, we’ll highlight some common issues with these tables. Sic Bo odds to avoid are:
As we have explained several times by now, choosing the right Sic Bo tables and casinos is very important. Sic Bo odds and rules can vary greatly, and trying to beat a sub-optimal table is a battle you can’t win.
Don’t know which casinos to play Sic Bo live at? No worries – we can help you with that. Our live dealer casino reviews are a great place to start. Look for software providers which offer good tables and bonuses which allow live Sic Bo wagering contribution.
To that end, here are some great suggestions:
If you’re looking for more Sic Bo tips, strategies, and suggestions, check out these pages:
You can’t predict the outcome of a round of Sic Bo reliably. This is a luck-based game, and there’s no real way to know how the dice will roll. Keep in mind that roadmaps and result trackers can all be considered parts of the Gambler’s Fallacy. The results of previous rounds of Sic Bo do not influence future outcomes in any way. The probability of every Sic Bo outcome is always the same.
Individual die results are all as likely. For example, the probability of one die showing a specific number is always 1 in 6, or about 16%.
As for the totals, the most common sum totals are 10 and 11, followed by 9 and 12.
The best strategy to win Sic Bo is finding the best tables and playing the best bets. You can use the guide above to find top Sic Bo casinos online. As for the bets, your best options are Big/Small, Odd/Even, Combination bets, and Singles.
Milos Markovic
A former English language primary school teacher, Milos Markovic began his writing career as a freelance sports journalist, eventually switching lanes completely and rising to become Editor-in-Chief at Serbia’s largest sports site, Sportske.net. His work in sports journalism led to collaborations with FIFA, where he reported from the sidelines of Serbian national team games during World Cup qualifiers. This experience paved the way for him to contribute to international publications, including The Guardian.
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