The table below lists the casino sites that carry the game for US players. Sic bo is not in every lobby, so it is worth checking a site’s table games list before depositing for it.
The bets, and what they actually pay
Sic bo has one rule of thumb worth carrying to the table: the better a bet pays, the less often it lands. Three groups cover nearly everything a player needs.
Small and Big
Small is a bet that the three dice total between 4 and 10. Big is a bet that they total between 11 and 17. Both pay 1:1 and both land just under half the time, which makes them the sic bo equivalent of red or black at roulette. The lowest house edges on the table, around 2.8% by the figures in our sic bo tips, sit in this group.
Combination bets
A combination bet names two faces and wins when both of them appear among the three dice. Both have to show: 2 and 5 wins on 2-5-6 and loses on 2-4-6. Our tips page puts the rate at roughly one win in seven, at a comparatively low house edge.
Single numbers and triples
A single-number bet pays more because it wins less, and with three dice the face you name has three chances to show on a roll. Triples are the far end of the table. A specific triple — the number named in advance, on all three dice — pays 180:1, while any triple pays 30:1 because the number does not matter. The probability of a triple is about 0.55%, which is the whole reason those payouts look the way they do.
Is there a sic bo strategy?
Not in the sense that blackjack or poker have one. The result is three dice, and nothing a player does changes what they show; both our sic bo odds page and our tips page say so in as many words. What is left to decide is which bets to place and how long to sit there, and that is where the groups above are useful: the low-edge bets pay least and land most often, the triples do the opposite.
Guides in this section
Two pages go deeper than this one does.
- Sic bo odds — the house edge bet by bet, including why the triple is quoted at a 0.55% chance.
- Sic bo tips — defensive betting, the Small and Big bets, combinations, and setting a limit before you start.
Dice and table games next door
If sic bo is missing from a lobby, these are the games that sit closest to it.
- Online craps — the other dice game on a casino floor, with two dice and a more involved sequence of rolls.
- Online roulette — the same even-money bets that Small and Big imitate.
- Table games — the full list, which is also the quickest way to see whether a site carries sic bo at all.
Playing sic bo from the United States
The operators in the table above hold licences issued outside the United States; the table names the licence in each case, and we do not describe any of them as licensed in the US. What is legal where you are sitting is a state question, and our state pages cover it.
The casino sites listed here accept players aged 21 and over. Because every sic bo bet settles on one roll, a session moves faster than it looks, so decide the limit first. The national helpline is 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738) and our responsible gambling page lists the state services.
Other Casino Games
- Table Games
- Free Casino Games
- Online Slots
- Online Blackjack
- Baccarat
- Online Craps
- Online Roulette
- Online Poker
- Pai Gow Poker
- Online Scratch Cards
- Online Lotteries
- Bingo
- Online Keno
Sic Bo FAQs
What does sic bo mean?
Precious dice. The game is also called tai sai, which means big and small, and dia siu, which means hi-lo.
Which sic bo bet wins most often?
Small, a total between 4 and 10, or Big, a total between 11 and 17. Both land just under half the time and both pay 1:1, which puts them in the same place as red or black at roulette.
Which sic bo bet pays the most?
A specific triple, where the player names the number that has to come up on all three dice, pays 180:1. Any triple pays 30:1. The probability of a triple landing at all is about 0.55%.
Can a strategy beat sic bo?
No. The dice are random and no betting pattern changes the house edge. What a player can choose is which bets to place: the Small and Big bets have the lowest edge on the table, at around 2.8%, and the triples the highest.