Games
How Color Game Works
Color Game is a simple three-dice game widely played online, but it has a built-in house edge of about 7.87%. Even though the player has three visible chances to win, the math still favors the house.
On this page · 3 sections
Color Game Rules and Payouts
In Color Game, the player bets on one or more colors before the roll, and the house rolls three dice, each showing six colors. Payouts are based on how many of the three dice match the selected color. One match pays 1:1, two matches pay 2:1, and three matches pay 3:1. If the color does not appear on any die, the bet is lost.
The Maths Behind the House Edge
So why does the house have such a big edge, even with three visible dice? Let's look at the probabilities.
There are 216 possible combinations of three dice. Of these, 125 (125/216) show no matches to a given selected color, 75 (75/216) show one match, 15 (15/216) show two matches, and 1 (1/216) shows three matches. Multiply these probabilities by the payouts, and you get an expected return of 92.13% to the player. The other 7.87% is where the house edge comes from.
What gives the game an illusion of winnability, though, is that the player gets three visible chances to match, and the math doesn't quite jibe with that. Three dice may feel like a strong likelihood of hitting at least once. However, out of 216 possible results, only 91 (42.1%) show at least one match, so a color loses more often than it wins.
Mathematically, Color Game is the same as the casino game Chuck-a-luck, which has the same 7.87% house edge with the classic 1:1, 2:1 and 3:1 payouts.
Is Online Color Game Legal?
Online, Color Game falls under PAGCOR (Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation) oversight as a "Specialty Game." PAGCOR's Electronic Gaming Licensing Department (EGLD) licenses Specialty Games.
A PAGCOR service-provider list dated 6 Aug 2024 included "Perya Game" under Specialty Games. Online Color Game is only legal on licensed platforms listed on the PAGCOR Guarantee site; the same game on unlisted sites is illegal gambling.
Ultimately, the game offers players three visible chances, but on average the dice math keeps about 7.87 centavos of every peso bet.
