The main casino dice games are craps, sic bo and chuck-a-luck. Craps, played with two dice, is the most popular and offers the best odds, with a house edge near 1.4 percent. Sic bo uses three dice and is common at live casinos, while chuck-a-luck is a simpler three-dice game with a higher edge.
Dice have been used for gambling for thousands of years, and a handful of dice games still hold their place on the casino floor. Craps is the giant among them, but it is not the only one: sic bo, chuck-a-luck and a few rarer games each have their own following. This guide introduces the main casino dice games, shows how they compare, and points you to the best odds among them.
- Craps is the most popular casino dice game. It also has the lowest house edge of any dice game.
- Sic bo is the three-dice favourite. A live-casino staple with a wide range of bets and decent odds on small or big.
- Chuck-a-luck is simple but costly. The birdcage game is easy to play but carries a much higher house edge.
- For the best odds, choose craps. Its pass line and free odds beat every other dice game on value.
What are the casino dice games?
Casino dice games are games where the roll of one or more dice decides the outcome. Only a few are commonly offered today: craps, played with two dice, and the three-dice family of sic bo, chuck-a-luck and grand hazard. Craps is the headline act, the fast, social game that draws crowds, while the three-dice games are quieter and, in the case of sic bo, increasingly popular online.
What separates them most is value. The house edge ranges from about 1.4 percent on craps up to nearly 8 percent on chuck-a-luck, so the game you pick matters a lot. If you are new to dice, our how to play craps guide is the best place to start, since craps is both the most popular and the best value.
The main casino dice games compared
Choose a game to see how it is played, how many dice it uses, and its house edge on the best available bet. The difference in value between them is striking.
Craps: the best odds in the dice pit
Craps is the most popular casino dice game and the one every other has to measure up to. Played with two dice, it lets players bet with or against the shooter, and its pass line bet has a house edge of just 1.41 percent, the lowest of any dice game. Back that bet with free odds and your overall edge drops even further, which no other dice game can match.
It is also the most social game on the floor, with a whole crew running the table and players cheering the dice. For the full picture, our craps odds guide breaks down the house edge on every bet, so you can stick to the cheap ones.
Sic bo: the three-dice favourite
Sic bo is the best known three-dice casino game, an old Chinese game whose name means precious dice. Players bet on what the three dice will show, from the total to specific numbers to the small and big ranges, and it has become a live-casino favourite thanks to its fast pace and colourful layout. Its small and big bets carry a reasonable 2.78 percent house edge, though betting on specific triples is far more expensive.
If sic bo appeals to you, our dedicated sic bo guide covers the rules, the bets and the odds in full.
Chuck-a-luck, grand hazard and rarer games
The rest of the dice family is simpler and harder to find. Chuck-a-luck, also called the birdcage, spins three dice in a wire cage and lets you bet on a single number appearing, but its house edge of around 7.87 percent makes it one of the poorer value dice games, and it turns up more at carnivals than casinos. Grand hazard is a close, slightly more elaborate cousin from which chuck-a-luck evolved, and both descend from sic bo.
Older still is hazard, the medieval English two-dice game from which craps itself grew, and klondike, a five-dice house game, both now essentially historical curiosities. You will rarely see either in a modern casino, but they are the roots of the games that remain. When you want to play the ones that are still around, our guide to online and live craps in Canada covers where to find them.
Playing casino dice games
If you want the best odds among the dice games, the answer is simple: play craps, stick to the pass line, and back it with odds. Sic bo is a fun three-dice change of pace with reasonable odds on small and big, while chuck-a-luck is best treated as light entertainment given its cost. When you are ready to roll, choose a licensed site that offers them in Canadian dollars.
