The popular dice game Sic Bo is the latest live dealer game to join the Lightning franchise by Evolution.
Lightning Sic Bo is a dice game where you bet on the outcome of three rolled dice. The lightning part boosts payouts to four or more bet positions each game by between 5x and 2000x, depending on the type of bet.
In this review, I discuss how to play and how the multipliers work before comparing the game with Evolution’s other multiplier sic bo game, Super Sic Bo. I’ll briefly touch on playing strategies and demonstrate the game in my Video Review.
You’ll find the game in the Live Casino Lobby of most Evolution casinos.
Here’s everything you need to know about Lighting Sic Bo.
Sic Bo is a dice game where you place bets on three rolled dice outcomes. There are 52 betting options, ranging from even money-type bets that have an almost 50% chance of winning to having the three dice win with the same number on each dice – called a Triple or three of a kind, which can pay up to 2000x with the boosed payouts from the lightning multipliers.
The different versions of Sic Bo accommodate more betting positions, with or without multipliers, so you find subtle differences between the games’ pay tables.
The betting grid looks complicated and, quite frankly, scary to the novice player, but once you understand the layout, it’s pretty easy to navigate to place your bets.
The “Lightning” part of the game is the selection of four or more bet spots to receive boosted payouts. These can range from 5x for the even money bets up to 2000x for a Triple.
Betting strategies are essential in this game, so I’ll cover those later in the review.
There are eight bet types on the betting grid.
You can place as many bets as you like, but I wouldn’t just scatter-gun your bets; I would think carefully about the coverage.
Once Betting has closed, four or more bet positions receive enhanced payouts with multipliers.
Each bet type has a maximum multiplier it can receive, so although the top payout is 2000x, it is only available on the Triple Bet spot.
The multiplier payout range for each betting spot is:
The RTP for Lightning Sic Bo is 97.22% for the Big/Small – Odd/Even bets. The rest of the bets deliver a range of up to 95.01% – so there are lower RTPs than this, but they’ve not published them.
The presenter plays no actionable role during the same. The dice shaker is on a timer and will start shaking just before betting time ends,
the dice skip and jump about under a glass dome until the plate stops vibrating and the dice come to rest.
The result comes from the upward-facing faces of the three dice.
Should any dice lie on its side, a re-roll is usually performed to correct the situation.
The playing interface has the usual features you’d expect to control volume, game sounds and the like.
The best feature is the previous results statistics, shown in three ways.
The Triple, Big, and Small bet results are shown as percentages for the last fifty game rounds.
A roadmap-style grid shows the sequence of the Big/Small Wins. It’s helpful to see how the results are trending.
The last set, and probably the most informative of the statistics, is the actual results, where you see the sum of the three dice and the value of each dice. You get to see the last ten rounds in this level of detail.
While the betting on Sic Bo looks complicated, it isn’t.
The betting in Sic Bo resembles Roulette the most. There’s a range of Even Money bets and then bets where you can hedge the outcome by selecting totals and combinations. The biggest paying bets are the hardest to get, with doubles and triples being the most difficult.
I use several betting strategies and will briefly explain why they might benefit you.
To begin with, never bet more than 10% of your bankroll on one game round. I would be even more conservative and say 5%, as you want to enjoy this game for as long as possible. If you win, that’s a bonus; getting a nice multiplier is even better.
Lighting Sic Bo is the game Evolution should have made with Super Sic Bo. The downside is the “Lightning Fee”, which Super Sic Bo doesn’t have. However, the fee allows the game to offer a multiplier on all bet positions and bigger multipliers than other games in the genre.
The studio fits in with the “Lightning” family of games, which features the familiar dark colours of red, black, and gold.
The game is nice and quick. The on-screen visuals are good, and you can instantly see which numbers have been allocated multipliers and their values.
Autoplay is great for repeating the same bet for a specified number of spins and for managing your bankroll.
There is obviously the fee, but I don’t know what the alternative is other than reducing the standard payouts more.
The one major issue is that the betting time is short if you want to cover the board with lots of bets. Getting your bet pattern down might take two or three tries.
There is no way to save bets as Favorites, like in roulette, so every time you come back and play, you need to start again.
Lightning Sic Bo and Super Sic Bo are both games by Evolution, while Deluxe Sic Bo is by Playtech.
All three games have multipliers, but some significant differences might influence which one you play.
Let’s look at the differences and how the three games compare.
There are a few swings and roundabouts, but the significant differences are the fee and the bigger multipliers that Lightning Roulette has.
If you want the big wins, you need to pay a fee. If you want the multipliers and the best payouts on the bets, Playtech Sic Bo Deluxe may be better than Super Sic Bo, but without the Odd/Even bet.
Bet | Pragmatic Mega Sic Bo | Playtech Sic Bo Deluxe | Ezugi Ultimate Sic Bo | Evolution Super Sic Bo | Evolution Lightning Sic Bo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Small/Big | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 – 14:1 |
Odd/Even | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 – 14:1 | |
Single | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 | 1:1 – 9:1 |
Double | 2:1 – 19:1 | 2:1 – 24:1 | 2:1 – 19:1 | 2:1 – 19:1 | 2:1 – 19:1 |
Triple | 3:1 – 87:1 | 3:1 – 87:1 | 3:1 – 87:1 | 3:1 – 87:1 | 3:1 – 87:1 |
Double | 8:1 – 87:1 | 8:1 – 87:1 | 8:1 – 87:1 | 8:1 – 87:1 | 8:1 – 149:1 |
Combination | 5:1 – 24:1 | 5:1 – 24:1 | 5:1 – 24:1 | 5:1 – 24:1 | 5:1 – 99:1 |
Specific Triple | 150:1 – 999:1 | 150:1 – 999:1 | 150:1 – 999:1 | 150:1 – 999:1 | 150:1 – 1,999:1 |
Any Triple | 30:1 – 87:1 | 30:1 – 87:1 | 30:1 – 87:1 | 30:1 – 87:1 | 30:1 – 499:1 |
4 and 17 | 50:1 – 499:1 | 50:1 – 499:1 | 50:1 – 499:1 | 50:1 – 499:1 | 50:1 – 999:1 |
5 and 16 | 20:1 – 249:1 | 20:1 – 299:1 | 20:1 – 249:1 | 20:1 – 249:1 | 20:1 – 499:1 |
6 and 15 | 15:1 – 149:1 | 15:1 – 99:1 | 15:1 – 87:1 | 15:1 – 87:1 | 15:1 – 249:1 |
7 and 14 | 12:1 – 29:1 | 21:1 – 39:1 | 12:1 – 29:1 | 21:1 – 29:1 | 12:1 – 149:1 |
8 and 13 | 8:1 – 24:1 | 8:1 – 34:1 | 8:1 – 24:1 | 8:1 – 24:1 | 8:1 – 87:1 |
9 and 12 | 6:1 – 24:1 | 6:1 – 29:1 | 6:1 – 49:1 | 6:1 – 49:1 | 6:1 – 87:1 |
10 and 11 | 6:1 – 24:1 | 6:1 – 24:1 | 6:1 – 24:1 | 6:1 – 24:1 | 6:1 – 87:1 |
Whenever I see a fee required in addition to my bet, the hairs on my neck stand on end. I dislike games with fees.
However, Evolution already has a multiplier sic bo game without fees, so what does Lightning Sic Bo bring to the table that you can’t get elsewhere?
First, the multipliers’ size is double, with the top payout of 2000x possible on a Triple. All the bet positions benefit from multipliers, whereas other games restrict them to the more volatile bets.
So, this game suits everyone, from the safe to the risky bettor. Everyone gets a chance for a slice of the multiplier pie!
It’s better because the multipliers are bigger, and all bet spots qualify for the multipliers. It’s not so good because you have to pay a fee. You need to decide whether the bigger multipliers the fee gives you are worth more than the lower payouts on Super Sic Bo.
The best strategy ignores chasing multipliers and concentrates on placing value bets that may get the multipliers. Even money bets can get a multiplier of up to 15x, so you can play these and hope to get the multiplier now and then. I like to cover lots of bets using a Number system.
Yes, the dice, shaker, and results are all real. This game does not use an RNG; it’s all “Live.”
The RTP is 97.22% for the Big/Small – Odd/Even bets, and the range for the other bets delivers up to 95.01%.