Sic bo and fan tan explained: the two Asian dice and bead games you'll find at live casinos

Complete rules, real house edge figures for every bet, and the specific mechanical difference between these two frequently-confused games

Sic Bo and Fan Tan often sit side by side in a live casino lobby, share a similar visual table layout, and are both frequently offered by the same providers - which is exactly why they get confused with each other. They're genuinely different games with different mechanics. This guide covers both completely: how each is actually played, the real house edge on every bet type, and which specific bets are worth making versus which ones exist purely to look tempting.

Sic bo: three dice, over 50 ways to bet

Sic Bo (pronounced "see-bo") is an ancient Chinese dice game dating to the Han Dynasty, sometimes described as the Eastern cousin to craps - except every outcome is settled in a single roll, with no "point" phase or multi-roll sequence. Three dice are shaken in a cage or electronic shaker, and you bet on the outcome before they're revealed. Rounds complete in under a minute.

The core mechanic: All bets are placed before the shake. Once betting closes, the dice are revealed and every bet on the table is settled simultaneously in one sweep. There are 216 possible three-dice combinations in total, and over 50 different ways to bet on how they'll land.

Big/small: the lowest house edge bet on the table

Betting Small wins if the three dice total 4–10; betting Big wins if they total 11–17. Both pay even money (1:1). Critically, both bets lose if the dice land as a triple (any three matching numbers, e.g. 4-4-4) - regardless of whether that triple's value would technically fall within the Small or Big range. This is why Big/Small isn't genuinely a 50/50 proposition: the true win probability is 48.61%, with a house edge of 2.78%. Independent analysis consistently identifies Big/Small as the best value bet on the table, and the standard entry point for new players learning the game's rhythm.

Single number (one dice) bets

Pick any number 1–6. You win 1:1 if exactly one die shows it, 2:1 if two dice show it, and 3:1 if all three show it (some tables pay 12:1 on this specific triple outcome instead of 3:1 - check the posted paytable). House edge sits around 7.9% - a meaningfully worse proposition than Big/Small, but still one of the more moderate bets available.

Two-dice combination (domino) bets

Pick two specific numbers (e.g., 2 and 5). You win if both appear among the three dice, regardless of what the third die shows. Payouts commonly run 5:1 at standard tables, or 6:1 at better-paying ones - a real difference in house edge (16.7% versus 11.1%) for an identical bet, purely based on which specific table you're playing at.

Specific triple and any triple

Specific Triple: All three dice must show one particular number you've chosen (e.g., three 4s). This carries the highest standard payout on the table - 180:1 at the best-paying live tables, though some legacy tables pay only 150:1 for the identical bet. That difference alone shifts the house edge from roughly 16% to roughly 30% - twice as expensive for the same wager, depending purely on which specific operator's paytable you're facing.

Any Triple: Any three matching dice, regardless of which specific number. Six of the 216 possible outcomes qualify. Typical payout is 30:1.

Sum (total) bets

Bet on the exact total of all three dice, from 4 to 17. Payouts scale with rarity - a total of 4 or 17 (the rarest outcomes, achievable only 1-2-1 style combinations) pays as much as 60:1, while a total of 10 or 11 (the most common outcomes) pays only around 6:1 despite requiring an exact match. House edge ranges from roughly 9.7% on the rarest totals up to roughly 12.5% in the middle of the range - genuinely one of the worse categories of bet on the table across the board.

A practical bankroll rule specific to sic bo

Because Big/Small is close to genuine 50/50, independent analysis suggests bringing at least 60 betting units to a session focused on that bet type specifically - for a £5 unit, that's a £300 session bankroll, giving variance room to even out before you're forced to stop. Sticking to even-money bets extends your expected playing time roughly fourfold compared to spreading stakes across the higher-house-edge combination bets.

Always check the specific paytable before you sit down. As shown above, the same-named bet (Specific Triple, Two-Dice Combination) can carry meaningfully different house edges purely based on which specific payout structure a given table or operator uses. If a table's help panel doesn't clearly display its paytable, treat that as a reason to look elsewhere.

Odd/even bets

A second even-money bet type, structurally identical to Big/Small in its house edge but organised differently: betting Odd wins if the three-dice total is an odd number, Even wins if it's an even number. Exactly like Big/Small, any triple loses regardless of whether that triple's value is odd or even - so the true win probability is the same 48.61%, and the house edge is the same 2.78%. Not every table or operator offers Odd/Even alongside Big/Small (it's more commonly found on traditional Macau-style tables than at every online provider), but where available, it's mathematically equivalent to Big/Small and can be used interchangeably as your low-house-edge entry point.

Trend trackers are marketing, not a statistical tool

Every live Sic Bo lobby displays a trend grid - the last 50 results, "hot" and "cold" numbers, how many consecutive rounds since the last Big result. This is worth naming directly as a marketing fixture rather than a genuine analytical aid. Three dice produce 216 equally probable outcomes on every single shake, with zero memory of any previous shake - a run of seven consecutive Small results is exactly as statistically meaningless as a run of five consecutive reds at roulette, a concept covered in detail in this site's guide to roulette betting systems. Players who chase a perceived "correction" after a streak, betting larger because a result feels "due," systematically lose more over time than players who ignore the trend board entirely - the streak provides no genuine predictive information regardless of how compelling it looks on screen.

Fan tan: the counting game

Fan Tan is a considerably older and structurally different Chinese gambling game, historically associated with Macau's larger casinos and, in an earlier era, with Chinese immigrant gambling halls in 19th-century San Francisco. It has nothing to do with dice.

The core mechanic: A pile of small objects - traditionally buttons, sometimes beads, coins, or beans, numbering roughly 200 - sits on the table. The dealer places a cup or metal bowl over a portion of the pile (typically around 60 objects), then lifts the cup and uses a wand or hooked stick to count the covered objects off into groups of exactly four, removing four at a time. The outcome is whatever remains after the last complete group of four is removed - always a number from 1 to 4.

Modern live dealer versions (Evolution Gaming's Fan Tan being the most widely available) sometimes substitute cards for physical objects: 6 or 12 cards are dealt and their point values summed, then divided by 4, with the remainder producing the same 1-to-4 outcome through a different randomisation method.

The traditional five bets (Macau rules)

All winning payouts at traditional Macau tables are subject to a 5% commission - directly comparable to the commission structure covered in this site's guide to baccarat, where the Banker bet carries an equivalent 5% commission on wins.

Live dealer simplified bets

Online and live-streamed versions typically simplify to a smaller set of options: betting directly on the specific remainder (1, 2, 3, or 4), a Big/Small bet (Small covers 1–2, Big covers 3–4), and an Odd/Even bet (Odd covers 1 and 3, Even covers 2 and 4) - these even-money-style bets commonly pay 0.95:1, reflecting a built-in house margin similar in spirit to Sic Bo's Big/Small structure but with a slightly different payout convention. A "Nim" bet - choosing two possible remainders, where only the first one displayed on the betting spot counts as a win - is also commonly available, distinct from the traditional Kwok bet's equal-weighting of both chosen numbers.

Reported RTP range: 96.25% to 98.75%, varying by which specific bet type you choose - consistent with the general RTP-varies-by-bet-type principle covered in this site's guide to RTP and house edge.

Sic bo and fan tan: don't confuse the two

Given how often these two games are visually similar in a live casino lobby - both use a Sic Bo-style table layout at many providers, both settle quickly, both originate from Chinese gambling tradition - it's worth stating the distinction plainly: Sic Bo is a three-dice game with no counting involved; Fan Tan is a counting game with no dice involved. If you're looking specifically for one and land on a table for the other, the betting squares will look broadly similar, but the underlying randomisation mechanic and the specific bet types available are completely different.

Are either of these games beatable?

No - the same principle covered throughout this site's guide to roulette betting systems applies identically here. Every bet in both Sic Bo and Fan Tan carries a fixed, built-in house edge, and no betting pattern or progression system changes that underlying mathematics. Sic Bo specifically has no equivalent to craps' zero-house-edge Odds bet (covered in this site's craps guide) - every single wager on a Sic Bo table carries some positive house edge, with Big/Small simply being the lowest of the available options rather than a genuinely edge-free bet.

Frequently asked questions

What's the best bet in sic bo?

Big/Small, with a 2.78% house edge - the lowest available on the table, though not genuinely 50/50 since both lose on any triple, giving a true win probability of 48.61%.

Is sic bo the same as fan tan?

No - they're often confused because they share a similar table layout at many live casino providers and both originate from Chinese gambling tradition, but Sic Bo is a three-dice game and Fan Tan is a counting game involving beads, buttons, or cards divided into groups of four. The underlying mechanics are completely different.

What does the specific triple bet pay in sic bo?

Typically 180:1 at the best-paying live tables, though some tables pay only 150:1 for the identical bet - a difference that shifts the house edge from roughly 16% to roughly 30%. Always check the specific paytable before playing this bet regularly.

How is a fan tan round decided?

The dealer covers a portion of a pile of small objects (traditionally buttons or beads, sometimes cards in modern live versions), then counts them off in groups of exactly four. The outcome is whatever remainder is left after the last complete group - always a number from 1 to 4.

Can betting systems improve my odds at sic bo or fan tan?

No. Every bet in both games carries a fixed house edge, and no staking pattern or progression system changes the underlying mathematics - the same proof covered in this site's guide to roulette betting systems applies identically to both games.

This guide is for educational purposes. All Sic Bo and Fan Tan outcomes are determined by random dice rolls or randomised object/card counting, and no strategy guarantees winning outcomes. Gambling problem? In the UK: BeGambleAware.org | 0808 8020 133. In the US: 1-800-GAMBLER. Information correct as of September 2026.