Sic Bo in the Philippines

The game in one minute

The dealer (or the software) shakes three dice in a covered shaker, and you bet on the result before it is shown. The table is full of options, but they fall into a few kinds:

• Big or Small: the total is 11-17 (Big) or 4-10 (Small). Both lose if all three dice match (a triple).
• Total: a specific total from 4 to 17.
• Triples: any triple, or one specific triple such as 6-6-6.
• Specific double: at least two dice show the number you pick.
• Two-dice combination: two different numbers you pick both appear.
• Single number: pays more the more dice show your number.

The payout for each is printed on the table and can differ between games, which is why the same bet can be cheap at one table and expensive at another. According to Wikipedia, the game is played in the Philippines as "hi-lo".

Every bet: chance and house edge

Three dice give 6 × 6 × 6 = 216 equally likely ordered results. We counted the ones that win each bet and worked out the house edge under two paytables that Wizard of Odds labels "Macau" and "Atlantic City"; our figures match its tables to every published digit. Sorted from cheapest to dearest under the Macau payouts:

How to read a row, with Big as the example: 105 of the 216 rolls total 11-17 without being a triple. Per ₱100 you win ₱100 on 105 rolls and lose ₱100 on 111, so the average result is (105 − 111) ÷ 216 × ₱100 = −₱2.78. The same arithmetic on "total 5" at 18:1: you win ₱1,800 on 6 rolls and lose ₱100 on 210, an average of −₱47.22 per ₱100. That bet looks generous and is one of the worst on the table.

The single-number bet needs one more step because it can win three ways: one die matches on 75 rolls (pays 1:1), two dice on 15 (2:1), three dice on 1 (3:1), and no die on 125 (you lose). (75 × 1 + 15 × 2 + 1 × 3 − 125) ÷ 216 = −17 ÷ 216, a house edge of 7.87%. The perya color game's one-colour bet works the same way.

Sic bo payouts at Philippine casinos

Solaire Resort Entertainment City and NUSTAR Resort Cebu publish their full paytables. NUSTAR's payouts are the Macau column above, bet for bet. Solaire's match the Atlantic City column except for two totals, where Solaire pays more: 18:1 on 6 or 15 and 7:1 on 9 or 12. Solaire also prints bets that NUSTAR does not list. Wins for Odd/Even and the combination bets follow the rules on Wizard of Odds: Odd/Even loses on a triple, like Big/Small; "three single dice" and "double plus single" need the dice to show exactly the numbers you picked; the four-number bet wins when the three dice show three different numbers from your four.

"–" means the bet is not on that casino's page. Solaire's page prints the two-dice payout of the single-number bet as "2 to 11"; the usual payout, and NUSTAR's, is 2 to 1. The biggest gaps are on the long shots: total 5 or 16 costs 13.89% of each bet at Solaire's 30:1 and 47.22% at NUSTAR's 18:1. At Casino Filipino, the casino chain PAGCOR operates, the gaming guide lists the game as "Big and Small" with Big/Small at 1:1 (losing on a triple), dice combinations at 5:1 and single dice at 1, 2 or 3 to 1, the same as at Solaire and NUSTAR. The table in front of you can still differ from a website, so read its printed payouts.

Is there a sic bo strategy?

Only choosing the bet. Big and Small (and Odd/Even where offered) cost 2.78% of every bet at all of these paytables; after them come total 9 or 12 at Solaire (7.41%), the single-number bet (7.87%) and total 7 or 14 (9.72%). No betting system, pattern or progression changes the edge, because each roll is independent: raising your stake after a loss only raises the amount the same edge applies to.

What the table layout does not tell you

• Read the paytable, not the bet name. "Total 4" pays 50:1 at one table and 60:1 at another, and the house edge halves. Variants with multipliers (titles such as Lightning, Mega or Super Sic Bo) change payouts again; their rules screen is the only place to check.
• Several bets at once do not average out the edge in your favour. Each chip carries its own edge. Spreading ₱500 across a total, a triple and Big costs the sum of the three edges on their stakes.
• Roadmaps are history. Live tables show the last results as a grid. Dice have no memory; a column of Bigs does not make Small "due".
• Speed. Rounds are short, and the edge applies to every one. Invented example: 60 rounds an hour at ₱200 on Big is ₱12,000 wagered and about ₱333 expected loss an hour at 2.78%; the same chips on "any triple" at 24:1 would cost about ₱3,667.

Sic Bo games on PAGCOR's approved lists

We searched all 126 per-provider files linked from PAGCOR's EGLD page on 7 November 2026 for "sic bo" and "sicbo". Thirteen providers have at least one title:

These lists approve games, not websites, and none of the titles tells you its paytable. Before you bet, open the game's rules screen and compare its payouts with the table above. Related: live casino, baccarat, Dragon Tiger. Set a time and money limit before you start (responsible gambling).

Sources: PAGCOR, EGLD page and the provider PDFs linked above (downloaded 7 Nov 2026); Wizard of Odds, Sic Bo (paytables and bet rules, read 7 and 9 Nov 2026); Solaire Resort Entertainment City, Sic Bo, and NUSTAR Resort Cebu, Sic Bo (paytables, read 9 Nov 2026); Casino Filipino, gaming guide (read 9 Nov 2026); Wikipedia, Sic bo (read 9 Nov 2026). Probabilities, house edges and peso examples are our own calculations.