October 26, 1994, will always be remembered by fans of Sic Bo. On that day, not the most popular gambling game became the most attractive for all users reading the Current Blackjack News. There was a note telling how to beat one popular casino in Sic Bo.
The legendary Stanford Wong published the article. As you might know, his competence in gambling did not cause doubts even among the most ardent skeptics. The famous expert, whose real name is John Ferguson, specialized in blackjack and craps. He played professionally and successfully in the casino, wrote several books, and produced a computer program for blackjack lovers.
When Current Blackjack News published an article about Sic Bo, its headline caused mild bewilderment among regular readers. Still, the material's content made many immediately understand the features of Sic Bo and head to Biloxi, Mississippi.
Let's recall how events unfolded.
Sic Bo Game
First, briefly remind the rules of the Sik Bo game. It is sometimes called the Chinese variety of craps. It originated in China many centuries ago and is most prevalent in this country.
Sic bo uses three dice and a table with a unique layout containing places for numerous bets.
The player aims to guess which dice combination will land in the next game round.
The client can make one or more bets, combining them at his discretion. Payouts for different bets are calculated by specific multipliers. Each one has its own RTP.
Grand Casino's Costly Mistake
In the traditional version of Sic Bo, the casino has a mathematical advantage over the client in all bets. If a customer follows the optimal strategy, the house edge can be reduced to less than 3%, but this figure is much higher for some bets.
Any changes in the payout multipliers cause changes in the payback and the return to the player.
Grand Casino in Biloxi offered an unreasonably high payout for a bet on 4 and 17.
- The probability of getting such a combination is 71:1,
- The classic payout, in this case, is 60:1,
- Grand Casino paid out this bet as 80:1.
By this, it provided customers with a 12.5% advantage over the house.
The max bet was limited to $100. About seventy rounds took place within an hour. We will not go into detailed calculations but explain what it means for customers:
Making $100 bets for an hour, a player could win about $1500.
As was made out to Stanford Wong? After all, he is not keen on SIC Bo. This was stated in the article. Next quote:
A professional Sic Bo player reveals a secret two-step approach to gain an advantage. Mississippi reporter Blair Guthrie confirms the method is working.
The two steps to success in Sik Bo are as follows:
- Go to the Grand Casino in Biloxi;
- Bet on 4 and 17.
Wong later claimed he wasn't joking about a professional player. History is silent because anyone would want to share such a lucrative secret.
What Happened Next at the Grand Casino?
On October 26, 1994, the Sic Bo table at the Grand Casino opened as usual at 11: 00 a.m. Two clients unknown to the administration were playing behind it by four o'clock.
No empty seats were left by the evening, but this did not stop the players because most arrived from afar. A couple of people even flew in from Las Vegas. Say one guy, as soon as I heard about this error, jumped in the car and drove for nearly a day without stopping.
People crowded around the table and stretched over the heads of other customers, trying to place chips on the field. One player later recounted buying a seat from another visitor for forty dollars and winning eight thousand in hours.
Naturally, all bet on 4 and 17. The chips didn't fit in the slots, but the dealers took chances even if the tokens were nearby. The casino lost tens of thousands of dollars every time these numbers came up. In such situations, the dealer had a long time to understand who should win, which slowed down the process to the great dissatisfaction of the public.
On that day, a gross error with the payout ratio was not the only problem of the Grand Casino. Numbers 4 and 17, as luck would have it, fell out much more often than the probability theory suggests.
Several inspectors were on duty at the table, trying to figure out why the club was losing so badly. Apparently, among them, there was not a single expert who understood the intricacies of Sic Bo.
To the credit of the Grand Casino managers, the disastrous state of affairs did not force them to stop the game. The table was open until three in the morning, which was the standard schedule. According to unverified data, the club lost $180,000 that night.
Every Day Is Not Sunday
The next day, a dozen casino employees checked the table and equipment. They tried the bones almost to the teeth, climbed the floor, looked into all the cracks, and tested the electronic scoreboard but did not understand what was wrong.
A vast crowd was waiting for the game to begin at eleven o'clock. The dealer appeared at the table, stood for a couple of minutes, and left. Then the audience was addressed by the pit boss, who said that Sic Bo would not be available that day.
Only after another day, managers realized their mistake. Perhaps someone showed them a copy of the Current Blackjack News Bulletin. They ordered a new table layout with the correct multipliers, changed the rules, and only then re-launched Sic Bo.
Nobody was excited about it anymore because the 60:1 multiplier for the bet on 4 and 17 featured the house edge of over 15%.
Summary
Casino managers often make mistakes. Many flaws are costly to casinos. Reckless changes in the rules, too generous cashback, thoughtlessly frequent promotions, and enormous prizes cost them a pretty penny.
Have you ever found and used casino errors for your purposes? Share stories in the comments.
P.S. Sic Bo for online casinos is offered by many software developers. Random number generator games and tables with live croupiers are available on most gambling websites. You can read online Sic Bo reviews on Casinoz.
