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The History of Sic-Bo.
Like many gambling games Sic-Bo has its original origins coming from Ancient China, with the word Sic-Bo translating to 'Dice Pair' or 'Dice Bowl'. The reason for this name relates to the bowl or the dice that the game is played with or that the pay outs won in the game come from throwing a pair of numbers with the dice, however the game of Sic-Bo is actually played with three dice so it is more likely to relate closer to the name 'Dice Bowl'. It is believed that the game was originally played with an overturned bowl and bricks which were tumbled between two plates which of course has been adapted by casinos in order to make the game more playable at a casino.
The game of Sic-Bo has also been known by other names such as 'Tai Sai' which translates to 'lucky dice' alternatively it was also called 'Dai Siu' which translates to 'Big Small'. in the Philippines the game had a much simpler name, 'Hi-Low', the game is also reminiscent of the English game 'Grand Hazard'. What is clear is that Sic-Bo, throughout history has been a part of many Southeast Asian countries culture, including Korea and due to its ever increasing popularity the game spread to the West around the late nineteenth century and was often played in many Western casinos, soon Sic-Bo tables started to appear in casinos all over Las Vegas and Atlantic City.
The basic object of the game is for the player to bet on the outcome of three dices that are to be rolled, these bets can be placed on any of the combinations possible with two or three dice these are two of a kind, three of a kind or single numbers. The pay out that the game Sic-Bo offers the players a very large payout with the maximum odds standing at 180-1, this for a specific triple, in other words all three of the dice are required to show the selected triple for example 3x2. The lowest pay out stands at 1-1 and these are held for players who wish to bet on the value of only one dice. There is also a similar payout for smaller bets made by the players, this is a wager based on the outcome that the total of the three dice thrown will be between 4 and 10 however this is not paid out for the triple consisting of one, two or three. The odds of 1-1 are also held for 'big bets' which means that the dices thrown must be between 11 and 17, this will exclude triple four and five.
In casinos today the game is played on a table which illustrates the fifty possible bets that can be made in picture form and also shows the payout for each bet that is made. The players have to place their bets on the section of the gaming table which represents their bet which is pretty similar to betting on a roulette table. The dice are then taken by the dealer and placed in a basket or dice tumbler, once the dice have been thrown the dealer will then display the results on the same table where the bets were placed with the winning combination lighting up on the table. The dealer will then pay out the winnings to anybody who bet on the winning combination and then take in the bets which didn't win, these go to the house.
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