Xoc dia: rules, the bets and the odds of each bet

Xoc dia is a traditional Vietnamese game played with four coins, each red on one side and white on the other. The dealer covers the plate with a bowl, shakes it, and players guess how many red sides face up. The two basic bets are even (0, 2 or 4 red) and odd (1 or 3 red).

Rules

1. Four coins go on the plate and the bowl covers them.
2. The dealer shakes the plate and sets it down.
3. Players bet within the time allowed.
4. The bowl is lifted, red sides are counted, and bets are paid by the table’s paytable.

Bets and odds

Four coins have 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 = 16 equally likely results.

Bet	Result	Ways out of 16	Chance
Even	0, 2 or 4 red	8	50%
Odd	1 or 3 red	8	50%
4 red	All four red	1	6.25%
4 white	All four white	1	6.25%
3 red 1 white	Three red, one white	4	25%
3 white 1 red	Three white, one red	4	25%

Even and odd are both 50%, so the house edge comes from the payout: usually a little under 1 to 1, or a table rule. The 4 red and 4 white bets pay a lot because they have only a 1 in 16 chance. Read the table’s paytable before you bet.

Online versus traditional

Online xoc dia is either a live table with a real dealer on video or a machine version using random numbers. Red sides are counted the same way. Not every game lobby has xoc dia; check the game list first.

“Reading” the bowl

Each shake is independent, so a run of even or odd results says nothing about the next one. “Prediction software” sold online cannot see under the bowl. The dice game with similar maths is tai xiu; if you prefer cards, see card games.