Sic Bac is a live-dealer dice game whose origins are in the live games of Baccarat, Dragon Tiger, and Sic Bo.
The game has the look and feel of Baccarat, with Player and Banker playing positions, the rules of Dragon Tiger, where the highest hand wins, and side bets inspired by Sic Bo. Throw in some Mega Multipliers, and you have a dice game called Mega Sic Bac!
What’s more, you can play just the Player & Banker hands or ignore them and play the side bets, where all four dice can form Doubles, Triples and Quads.
In this review, I’ll cover how the game is played, whether there are any winning strategies, and how it compares with similar games in this genre. You can also check out my Video Review, where I demonstrate the game in action.
Here are nine things you need to know before playing Sic Bac.
Sic Bac is a straightforward game with many betting options to suit beginners and experienced players alike.
There are a couple of ways to play:
There’s no right or wrong way to play, but some of your choices can increase the game’s volatility, so I’ll cover those as we get to them.
The game starts with betting time, where you can place bets on the Player, banker/ Ties, and 21 Side Bet positions.
Once betting time has closed, Mega Multipliers are allocated randomly to some bet positions.
The presenter presses a switch to activate the four dice shakers, which rattle the dice.
There are two dice for each of the Player and Banker playing positions. The dice roll in the following sequence: Player Dice 1, Banker Dice 1, Player Dice 2 and Banker Dice 2.
Once the dice have completed their rolls, the playing position with the highest total wins.
If the result is a Tie, the Player and Banker bets lose.
You can bet on as many of the 21 Side Bets as you like.
The side bets are taken from the game of Sic Bo and relate to Doubles, Triples and Quads.
All four dice in play contribute to the side-bet results, so any two out of four dice that are the same will make a Double. Three of the same dice will make a Triple, and if they are the same, all four dice make a Quad.
It’s possible to bet on ANY Double or Triple, where you don’t specify the number, just that there will be one. It pays much less than a specific Double, Triple or Quad, where you’re naming the number the result will appear for.
Let’s examine some betting and playing strategies. None can guarantee you’ll win – if they did, we’d all be millionaires!
But what they can do is help you manage your bankroll and give you longer playing sessions.
The longer you play, the more likely you’ll get some wins with a multiplier, as that is how you can beat this game.
Most multipliers get applied to the Side Bets, but that doesn’t mean you should play them. The minimum to get a win is a Double, so two out of the four dice need to be the same. A named double pays between 6:1 and 88:1, while any Double pays 0.5:1 to 3:1.
The Multipliers for the two bets, Player and Banker, go from the standard payout of 1:1 to 5:1, which represents great value.
As the game is symmetrical, both players have two dice and an equal chance of winning. We can work out the odds and probabilities of the three possible outcomes of the game:
For every four times the Player wins, they lose about five times. The same is true for the Banker position.
The Player or Banker will win in just under half the games; otherwise, a Tie will occur.
If you want a chance to win the big payouts, you have to play the side bets. That is where you’ll find the 5000:1 payout for a Triple with a multiplier.
The best bet to make with the side bet is the Any Double, but it doesn’t pay that well. If you’re feeling adventurous, I’d go for a named double, as you can get up to 88:1, but it’s an outside bet at best.
The best bet is the Player or Banker and the Tie (which is better than a named double).
I’d advise playing Player or Banker. Keep playing that spot until it loses, and then switch to the other while doubling your bet. I have a small bet on the Tie. That way, you’ll benefit from the multipliers and have the highest chance of winning.
Mega Sic Bac comes with a selection of Raodmaps, which display the data from the past 500 results. Unlike the roadmaps in Baccarat or Dragon Tiger, these do not get reset. They show the results continuously, dropping off the oldest and showing the latest.
But just like Baccarat and Dragon Tiger, there are five roads.
The first two, Big Road and Bead Plate, show the results in the sequence in which they occurred, giving the result of Player/Banker/Tie and the dice total.
The Big Eye Boy, Small Road and Cockroach Road are derived from the first two roads and display the results from a different viewpoint.
The results are useful for tracking trends, and some people like to use them to predict future results—which is risky, in my opinion.
The results statistics are probably more useful than the Roadmaps, which can be accessed through a separate menu option in the playing interface.
The stats are displayed in two ways:
The expected return (RTP) for Sic Bac is 98.26%, less than standard Baccarat at 98.94% but more than Dragon Tiger at 96.72%.
Each of the side bets has an expected return, as can be seen in the table.
Overall, the RTP is in line with other games of this type.
Bet Type | Payout | RTP |
---|---|---|
Player | 1:1 – 5:1 | 98.26% |
Banker | 1:1 – 5:1 | 98.26% |
Tie | 6:1 – 88:1 | 97.54% |
Doubles | 6:1 – 88:1 | 96.53% |
Triples | 50:1 – 888:1 | 95.56% |
Quads | 1000:1 – 5000:1 | 95.11% |
Any Double | 0.5:1 – 3:1 | 97.02% |
Any Triple | 8:1 – 88:1 | 96.54% |
Any Quad | 150:1 – 888:1 | 95.51% |
Although Sic Bac suggests it has its roots in Baccarat, the rules for playing have little in common with the popular card game. The standard features are the Player/Banker betting position and the roadmaps.
The rules come more from Dragon Tiger, where the highest-value hand wins, with the playing cards replaced by four dice—two for each playing position.
A tied hand results in a loss unless you’ve bet on a Tie, unlike in Baccarat, where you get your stake back for a Player or Banker loss to a Tie.
The nod to Sic Bo comes in the Side bets, which use the four dice to deliver bets on a combination of Double, triple and quad. You get better payouts for naming specific results, while the Any Bet covers all options. Mega Sic Bo is the game to play if you like the side bets, as there are many betting options and multipliers.
A very similar game is Evolutions Football Studio Dice. It doesn’t have multipliers, but the Tie bet pays more.
The game is a bit of a hybrid, and using dice makes a refreshing change from Playing Cards.
It is a unique game to Pragmatic Play, but at first glance, the playing interface, studio design, use of dice, and table layout could confuse the game with Evolution Bac Bo.
The playing rules are different, but the similarities are obvious. Evolution Football Studio Dice is the closest game with a different theme.
You can be forgiven if you think Mega Sic Bac is a copy of Evolution Bac Bo. At first glance, they look identical. But looks can be deceiving, as is the case here.
While they look the same, they are entirely different. The game is more closely aligned with Hi-Lo games, like Dragon Tiger. Football Studio Dice, also by Evolution, is the closest. The main difference is the side bets and, of course, the lack of Multipliers.
The multipliers make a big difference in this game, elevating the Player/Banker wins to 5:1 and Tie up to 88:1. The side bets add some additional excitement, but to get the top payout of 5000:1 is a challenge for a specific triple with the top 50x multiplier. The RTP tells the story, and these bets should be left alone.
It is an excellent addition to Pragmatic’s Live Casino game catalogue. This game is likely to have a small and loyal following and is a good starter game, given the playing and betting rules are so simple.
As I’ve already mentioned, a few games are very similar to Mega Sic Bac. They all lack the multipliers, but they are all Hi-Lo games.
Mega Sic Bac is a live dealer dice game by Pragmatic Play, where two playing positions, the Player and Banker, roll two dice each to see who will be the winner with the highest number. You can also bet on a tie and 21 side bets, all of which have the opportunity to get payouts boosted by the Mega Multipliers.
Sic Bac is available at all Pragmatic Play online casinos.
The RTP of Sic Bac is 98.26%.
Placing bets on the Player or Banker positions are likely to get the best results, as these have a 44.37% chance of winning. The multipliers can boost payouts up to 5:1.
There is a strategy for playing Sic Bac. Click for more detailed information on this Sic Bac Strategy.