Live dealer Sic Bo
Sic Bo is a game of ancient Chinese origin, and also known as tai sai (meaning lucky dice) or dai siu (meaning big small). Sic Bo itself loosely translates to ‘dice bowl’.
A few years back you had to visit Asian market facing online casinos powered by live game providers in that region to find a game of live Sicbo. This is no longer the case, with all the major European based providers now offering live dealer Sic Bo tables.
And no wonder. It’s a great fit for live online play. Known for its simplicity and fast-paced nature it also happens to be a game (like Roulette) that can be remotely played simultaneously by many players (ie, a ‘1 to many’ game).
The premise of the game is simple:
- you are betting on the outcome of the roll/shake of 3 dice;
- possible bets and their corresponding payouts are clearly set out on the Sic Bo table bet selector;
- simply place your chip on the bet(s) to select, then wait for the dice roll and outcome.
When it comes to live dealer Sicbo, you can now chose from:
- Sic Bo tables with fixed payouts applying to all bets (ala traditional Sic Bo), and
- Sic Bo tables with random multipliers changing bet payouts each round.
Traditional live dealer Sicbo
It’s perhaps peculiar to call anything live dealer ‘traditional’. But these are tables that more closely replicate the traditional game of Sic Bo in that payouts for each bet type is fixed.
Here are currently available tables from the best providers. Click the table for summary details, links to full game reviews and where to play suggestions.
Each game UI, regardless of provider, displays a bet selector with all the regular Sic Bo bets and their corresponding payouts.
The bet selector is pretty self explanatory, but here’s a quick description of the bets.
- Small/Big – bet on the total of the three dice being Small (4-10) or Big (11-17).
- Even/Odd – bet on the total of the three dice being Odd or Even.
- Total – bet on the 3 dice total, choose totals 4 through 17
- Double – bet on specific double being rolled (2 of 3 dice show the same number).
- Triple (specific) – bet on any specific triple being rolled (all 3 dice match the chosen number).
- Any Triple – bet a triple of any number is rolled.
- 2 Dice Combination — bet on any or all 15 possible 2 dice combinations.
- Single – bet on any of the six betting areas labelled representing the six face values of a dice. If one dice matches your number, you win 1:1; payout increases if number appears 2 or 3 times.
It’s important to note at this point that while the same bet types are offered from one table to the next, the payouts applying do differ, albeit slightly (unlike live roulette, where payouts on regular bets do not vary from one live roulette table to the next).
This difference has implications on:
- which bet will be optimal from one live Sic Bo table to the next, and
- which live Sic Bo table is preferable to you, in the event you have a favourite bet
Sic Bo bet payouts compared
Comparing payouts by bet type across the major providers yields the below result. Pragmatic Play are the clear winner in terms of value for money.
| Bet | Pragmatic | Ezugi | Playtech |
|---|---|---|---|
| BIG/SMALL | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 |
| ODD/EVEN | 1:1 | 1:1 | N/A |
| DOUBLE | 12:1 | 11:1 | 10:1 |
| SPECIFIC TRIPLE | 210:1 | 180:1 | 180:1 |
| ANY TRIPLE | 34:1 | 30:1 | 30:1 |
| 3 DICE TOTAL: | |||
| 4 or 17 | 70:1 | 62:1 | 60:1 |
| 5 or 16 | 34:1 | 31:1 | 30:1 |
| 6 or 15 | 20:1 | 18:1 | 17:1 |
| 7 or 14 | 13:1 | 12:1 | 12:1 |
| 8 or 13 | 9:1 | 8:1 | 8:1 |
| 9 or 12 | 7:1 | 7:1 | 6:1 |
| 10 or 11 | 6:1 | 6:1 | 6:1 |
| 2 DICE COMBO | 6:1 | 5:1 | 6:1 |
| SINGLE: | |||
| On Single | 1:1 | N/A | 1:1 |
| On Double | 2:1 | N/A | 2:1 |
| On Triple | 15:1 | N/A | 3:1 |
From a return to player perspective, the optimal bet across all of these tables is the ‘3 DICE TOTAL’ of 4 or 17 on Pragmatic Play’s table, with an RTP of 98.61%.
It’s worth noting Pragmatic’s table was only introduced October 2023. It’s introduction, with significantly better payouts may lead to competitors improving their payouts.
Live dealer Sicbo tables with random multipliers in play
On these tables, round random multipliers are generated and applied to certain bets each round, changing the payout on that bet accordingly.
How many multipliers are generated and how big the multipliers are differs from one table to the next. Again the clickable portfolio has links to full game reviews and where to play details.
Payout ranges compared
Below are the payout ranges for each bet on the Sic Bo multiplier games. The range indicates base payout and the maximum possible multiplier payout.
| Bet | Lightning Sic Bo |
Super Sic Bo |
Mega Sic Bo |
Ultimate Sic Bo |
Deluxe Sic Bo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BIG/SMALL | 1 – 14:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 |
| ODD/EVEN | 1 – 14:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 |
| DOUBLE | 8 – 149:1 | 8 – 87:1 | 8 – 87:1 | 8 – 87:1 | 8 – 87:1 |
| SPECIFIC TRIPLE | 150-1,999:1 | 150-999:1 | 150-999:1 | 150-999:1 | 150-999:1 |
| ANY TRIPLE | 30 – 499:1 | 30 – 87:1 | 30 – 87:1 | 30 – 87:1 | 30 – 87:1 |
| 3 DICE TOTAL: | |||||
| 4 or 17 | 50 – 999:1 | 50 – 499:1 | 50 – 499:1 | 50 – 499:1 | 50 – 499:1 |
| 5 or 16 | 20 – 499:1 | 20 – 249:1 | 20 – 249:1 | 20 – 249:1 | 20 – 299:1 |
| 6 or 15 | 15 – 249:1 | 15 – 87:1 | 15 – 149:1 | 15 – 87:1 | 15 – 99:1 |
| 7 or 14 | 12 – 149:1 | 12 – 29:1 | 12 – 29:1 | 12 – 29:1 | 12 – 39:1 |
| 8 or 13 | 8 – 87:1 | 8 – 24:1 | 8 – 24:1 | 8 – 24:1 | 8 – 34:1 |
| 9 or 12 | 6 – 87:1 | 6 – 49:1 | 6 – 24:1 | 6 – 49:1 | 6 – 29:1 |
| 10 or 11 | 6 – 87:1 | 6 – 24:1 | 6 – 24:1 | 6 – 24:1 | 6 – 24:1 |
| 2 DICE COMBO | 5 – 99:1 | 5 – 24:1 | 5 – 24:1 | 5 – 24:1 | 5 – 24:1 |
| SINGLE: | |||||
| On Single | 1 – 9:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 |
| On Double | 2 – 19:1 | 2 – 19:1 | 2 – 19:1 | 2 – 19:1 | 2 – 19:1 |
| On Triple | 3 – 87:1 | 3 – 87:1 | 3 – 87:1 | 3 – 87:1 | 3 – 87:1 |
Players looking for higher payout volatility will prefer Lightning Sic Bo. The other versions are pretty similar.