Baccarat Appendix 5

Last update: Dec. 5, 2008

Baccarat Side Bets

Index:
Dragon Bonus
4-5-6
Lucky Bonus
Three-Card Six
Dragon Bonus
Royal Match

Dragon Bonus

The "Dragon Bonus" is a popular pair of side bets in mini baccarat. The following two tables show the possible outcomes of both the player and banker Dragon Bonus bets, based on eight decks. The lower right cells show a house edge of 2.65% on the player Dragon Bet and 9.37% on the banker Dragon Bet.

Dragon Bonus — Player
Event	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Win by 9	30	18409431764992	0.003683	0.110492
Win by 8	10	34097645543424	0.006822	0.068217
Win by 7	6	89590261473280	0.017924	0.107543
Win by 6	4	141238897317888	0.028257	0.113027
Win by 5	2	166169165987840	0.033244	0.066489
Win by 4	1	186780352174080	0.037368	0.037368
Natural win	1	812685054124032	0.162589	0.162589
Natural tie	0	89325908267520	0.017871	0
Loss	-1	3460101558850300	0.692242	-0.692242
Total		4998398275503350	1	-0.026517

Dragon Bonus — Banker
Event	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Win by 9	30	15390342909952	0.003079	0.092372
Win by 8	10	28305092784128	0.005663	0.056628
Win by 7	6	79517099278336	0.015909	0.095451
Win by 6	4	119200072366080	0.023848	0.095391
Win by 5	2	157275882332160	0.031465	0.062931
Win by 4	1	201147167287296	0.040242	0.040242
Natural win	1	812685054124032	0.162589	0.162589
Natural tie	0	89325908267520	0.017871	0
Loss	-1	3495551656153850	0.699334	-0.699334
Total		4998398275503350	1	-0.093731

The final table shows the house edge on each bet according to the number of decks.

Dragon Bonus House Edge
Number of decks	Player House Edge	Banker House Edge
4	2.70%	9.42%
6	2.67%	9.39%
8	2.65%	9.37%

4-5-6

This is a side bet rumored to be seen at the Atlantic City Hilton. There are three bets available on the total number of final player and banker cards. 4 cards pays 3 to 2, and 5 and 6 pay 2 to 1. The following table shows the probability of winning and expected value of each bet, based on six and eight decks.

4-5-6 Side Bet — 6 Decks
Total Cards	Probability	Pays	Return
4	0.378925	1.5	-0.052688
5	0.303540	2	-0.089380
6	0.317535	2	-0.047395

4-5-6 Side Bet — 8 Decks
Total Cards	Probability	Pays	Return
4	0.378868	1.5	-0.05283
5	0.303444	2	-0.089668
6	0.317687	2	-0.046939

Lucky Bonus

Lucky Bonus is a side bet found in the commission-free baccarat game at the Pala casino in California. The bet pays 18 to 1 if the banker gets a winning 3-card six. The table below shows a player advantage of 2.34%. That is not a mistake; the bet has a player advantage. However, the player can not bet more than 10% of his banker bet on the Lucky Bonus. The house edge on the banker bet is 1.33%, for a combined house edge of 1.11%.

Lucky Bonus — 8 Decks
Event	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Banker on on 6	18	269232304455680	0.053864	0.969547
All other	-1	4729165971047680	0.946136	-0.946136
Total		4998398275503360	1	0.023411

3-Card Six

3-Card Six is a side bet found in the commission-free baccarat game at the Pala casino in California. The bet pays 100 to 1 if both player and banker get a 3-card six, 8 to one if one of them does, and loses otherwise. The table below shows a house edge of 13.37%.

Lucky Bonus — 8 Decks
Event	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Two three-card 6	100	11932746197248	0.002387	0.238731
One three-card 6	8	347224932859904	0.069467	0.555738
All other	-1	4639240596446200	0.928145	-0.928145
Total		4998398275503350	1	-0.133676

Dragon Bonus

The Dragon Bonus is a side bet found in the EZ Baccarat game at the Barona casino in California. The bet pays 40 to 1 if the banker gets a winning 3-card 7. The table below shows a house edge of 7.61%.

Dragon Bonus — 8 Decks
Event	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Banker win on 3-card 7	40	112633011329024	0.022534	0.901353
All other	-1	4885765264174340	0.977466	-0.977466
Total		4998398275503360	1	-0.076113

Royal Match

I have an uncomfirmed report that at some casinos in London have a side bet on a the player or banker getting a king and queen in the first two cards, called the "Royal Match." It should not be confused with the side bet of the same name in blackjack. The bet pays 74 for 1 for a suited king/queen, and 29 for 1 for an unsuited king/queen. A single bet pays for both player and banker hands. The following table shows the return on this bet in an eight-deck game is 95.50%, for a house edge of 4.50%.

Royal Match — 8 Decks
Event	Pays	Combinations	Probability	Return
Suited K/Q	74	256	0.002966	0.438925
Unsuited K/Q	29	768	0.008897	0.516033
All other	0	85296	0.988137	0
Total		86320	1	0.954958

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