SICBO STRATEGIES

There are seven different bets you can make at a sic bo table. First, players may wager on any one of the six dice sides (1 through 6). If that number comes up on any one of the dice, the sic bo player is paid even money. If two of the dice come up with the same number, the bet is paid off at 2-to-1. And if all three dice come up on that same number, the bet is paid at 3-to-1. The house edge on this number is 7.8%.

The next wager on the sic bo table is a combination of two numbers. If, for example, a 2-5 or a 3-6 come up on any two of the dice, the bet is paid off at 5-to-1, giving the house 16.6 percent advantage.

Bets can also be made on the total of all the dice. The sic bo player can bet on any specific total from 4 to 17. The payoff on this bet varies from 6-to-1 to 50-to-1, depending upon the total bet. The house edge can also vary between 9.7% to 47.2%.

The next sic bo bet is a wager of "small" or "big," which means that if you bet on small, you're wagering that the three dice will total between 4 and 10. Big bets win if the dice total between 11 and 17. However, you lose if any triple appears. That means if three twos or threes or any other three-of-a-kind comes up, you lose, even though the total might constitute a small or big win. But even with the catch thrown in, the big and small bets are the best at the sic bo table, giving the house a rather reasonable 2.7% edge.

You also can bet for any of the six triplets in sic bo, but the three-of-a-kind bet is among the worst on the sic bo table. If you bet, for instance, that three fours will come up, you'll get paid 150-to-1, but the true odds are 215-to-1, giving the casino a 30% advantage.

You could also bet for any triplet. You get paid 24-to-1 on this bet, but the true odds are 35-to-1. Which ends up another 30% house edge.