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Excellent customer support

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Baccarat Appendix 5

Last Update: Oct. 14, 2011

Baccarat Side Bets

Index:
Dragon Bonus
4-5-6
Lucky Bonus
Three-Card Six
Dragon 7
Panda 8
Royal Match
Bellagio Bet
Matching Dragon

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 Bonus and 9.37% on the banker Dragon Bonus.

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
EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
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		ProbabilityPaysReturn
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		ProbabilityPaysReturn
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
EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
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
EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
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 7

The Dragon Bet is a side bet found in the game EZ Baccarat. 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 7
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

For information on counting the Dragon 7 bet, visit my page Card Counting the Dragon Side Bet in EZ Baccarat by Eliot Jacobson.

Panda 8

The Panda 8 is a side bet found in some EZ Baccarat games. The bet pays 25 to 1 if the player gets a winning 3-card 8. The table below shows a house edge of 10.19%.

Panda 8
Event Pays Combinations Probability Return
Win 25 172,660,763,262,976 0.034543 0.863580
Lose -1 4,825,737,512,240,380 0.965457 -0.965457
Total 4,998,398,275,503,360 1.000000 -0.101876

For information on counting the Panda 8 bet, visit my page Card Counting the Panda 8 Side Bet in EZ Baccarat.

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 75 for 1 for a suited king/queen, and 30 for 1 for an unsuited king/queen. A single bet pays for both player and banker hands, so the return column in the following table is the product of the probability, win, and 2 (for two hands). The lower right cell shows a return of 97.87%, for a house edge of 2.13%.

Royal Match — 8 Decks
EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Suited K/Q 75 256 0.002966 0.444856
Unsuited K/Q 30 768 0.008897 0.533828
All other 0 85296 0.988137 0
Total 86320 1 0.978684

Bellagio Bet

On January 12, 2010 I noticed an electronic baccarat game at the Bellagio, in which multiple players play against an animated dealer on a video screen. The rules looked standard, except there were a pair of pair bets (player and banker) that paid a premium for a three of a kind. As the tables below show, the probability of a Player three of a kind is 0.3036%, and 0.2835% on the Banker. However, strangely, the Player three of a kind paid more at 75 to 1 than the Banker three of a kind at 68 to 1. The following two tables, based on eight decks, show the overall house edges are 5.27% on the Player, and 8.57% on the Banker.

Player Pair — 8 Decks
EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Three of a kind 75 15173295632640 0.003036 0.227672
Pair 9 358201033380864 0.071663 0.644968
Loser -1 4625023946489860 0.925301 -0.925301
Total 4998398275503360 1 -0.05266

Banker Pair — 8 Decks
EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Three of a kind 68 14171102634240 0.002835 0.192789
Pair 9 359203226379264 0.071864 0.646773
Loser -1 4625023946489860 0.925301 -0.925301
Total 4998398275503360 1 -0.085739

Matching Dragon

The Matching Dragon is a baccarat side bet found somewhere in Macau. I heard it can be found at the Lisboa, but my source wasn't sure.

It is actually 13 side bets, one for each rank. The player is paid according to the number of cards of the chosen rank that appear in the next hand. It does not matter how many cards are dealt the next hand, four to six, they all count. Following is the pay table. All wins are on a "to one" basis.

Matching Dragon
Pay Table
Matching
Cards		 Pay Table 1 Pay Table 2
6 100 100
5 60 60
4 40 30
3 20 15
2 3 2
1 1 1
0 Loss Loss

Example: Consider the following hands:

Player: Q22
Banker: KQ2

A bet on a 2 would have paid 20 to 1 for three twos, Q 3 to 1 for two queens, K 1 to 1 for one king, and the other 10 bets would have lost.

The next table shows the number of combinations for each total number of cards for each rank, based on an eight-deck game.

Matching Dragon Combinations
Rank Total to Appear
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
A 3,372,235,347,405,820 1,376,864,854,298,620 227,334,747,041,792 20,748,232,028,160 1,174,231,511,040 40,210,759,680 652,458,240
2 3,374,205,845,711,870 1,372,886,682,968,060 229,384,762,118,144 20,753,336,463,360 1,130,651,443,200 36,344,340,480 652,458,240
3 3,375,668,306,236,410 1,368,547,890,921,470 233,294,440,835,072 20,047,474,974,720 840,162,535,680 0 0
4 3,376,297,590,838,270 1,365,203,603,582,970 237,624,138,319,872 18,841,460,736,000 431,482,026,240 0 0
5 3,369,867,624,655,870 1,381,466,839,506,940 225,192,490,123,264 20,626,123,653,120 1,201,241,210,880 43,303,895,040 652,458,240
6 3,360,312,058,915,840 1,398,234,533,609,470 219,826,491,219,968 18,905,100,472,320 1,079,228,067,840 40,210,759,680 652,458,240
7 3,360,436,360,129,530 1,396,785,482,645,500 222,199,903,375,360 17,958,953,410,560 986,765,414,400 30,158,069,760 652,458,240
8 3,341,662,250,324,990 1,429,319,839,928,320 212,157,913,151,488 14,755,316,551,680 502,955,546,880 0 0
9 3,345,838,246,777,850 1,419,219,581,763,580 219,618,524,149,760 13,491,384,115,200 230,538,696,960 0 0
10 3,372,222,296,173,560 1,376,888,919,302,140 227,325,253,173,248 20,746,767,360,000 1,174,176,276,480 40,210,759,680 652,458,240
J 3,372,222,296,173,560 1,376,888,919,302,140 227,325,253,173,248 20,746,767,360,000 1,174,176,276,480 40,210,759,680 652,458,240
Q 3,372,222,296,173,560 1,376,888,919,302,140 227,325,253,173,248 20,746,767,360,000 1,174,176,276,480 40,210,759,680 652,458,240
K 3,372,222,296,173,560 1,376,888,919,302,140 227,325,253,173,248 20,746,767,360,000 1,174,176,276,480 40,210,759,680 652,458,240

The next table shows the probability for each total number of cards for each rank, based on an eight-deck game.

Matching Dragon Probabilities
Rank Total to Appear
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
A 0.67466319 0.27546121 0.04548152 0.00415098 0.00023492 0.00000804 0.00000013
2 0.67505742 0.27466532 0.04589165 0.00415200 0.00022620 0.00000727 0.00000013
3 0.67535001 0.27379729 0.04667384 0.00401078 0.00016809 0.00000000 0.00000000
4 0.67547590 0.27312822 0.04754006 0.00376950 0.00008632 0.00000000 0.00000000
5 0.67418950 0.27638191 0.04505293 0.00412655 0.00024033 0.00000866 0.00000013
6 0.67227777 0.27973652 0.04397939 0.00378223 0.00021591 0.00000804 0.00000013
7 0.67230264 0.27944662 0.04445422 0.00359294 0.00019742 0.00000603 0.00000013
8 0.66854662 0.28595557 0.04244518 0.00295201 0.00010062 0.00000000 0.00000000
9 0.66938208 0.28393487 0.04393778 0.00269914 0.00004612 0.00000000 0.00000000
10 0.67466058 0.27546603 0.04547962 0.00415068 0.00023491 0.00000804 0.00000013
J 0.67466058 0.27546603 0.04547962 0.00415068 0.00023491 0.00000804 0.00000013
Q 0.67466058 0.27546603 0.04547962 0.00415068 0.00023491 0.00000804 0.00000013
K 0.67466058 0.27546603 0.04547962 0.00415068 0.00023491 0.00000804 0.00000013

The next two tables show the return for each total number of cards for each rank, based on pay tables 1 and 2 and an eight-deck game. The right column shows the total expected return for each of the 13 bets.

Matching Dragon Return Table — Pay Table 1
Rank Total to Appear
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total
A -0.674663 0.275461 0.136445 0.083020 0.009397 0.000483 0.000013 -0.169845
2 -0.675057 0.274665 0.137675 0.083040 0.009048 0.000436 0.000013 -0.170180
3 -0.675350 0.273797 0.140022 0.080216 0.006723 0.000000 0.000000 -0.174592
4 -0.675476 0.273128 0.142620 0.075390 0.003453 0.000000 0.000000 -0.180885
5 -0.674189 0.276382 0.135159 0.082531 0.009613 0.000520 0.000013 -0.169972
6 -0.672278 0.279737 0.131938 0.075645 0.008637 0.000483 0.000013 -0.175826
7 -0.672303 0.279447 0.133363 0.071859 0.007897 0.000362 0.000013 -0.179363
8 -0.668547 0.285956 0.127336 0.059040 0.004025 0.000000 0.000000 -0.192190
9 -0.669382 0.283935 0.131813 0.053983 0.001845 0.000000 0.000000 -0.197806
10 -0.674661 0.275466 0.136439 0.083014 0.009396 0.000483 0.000013 -0.169850
11 -0.674661 0.275466 0.136439 0.083014 0.009396 0.000483 0.000013 -0.169850
12 -0.674661 0.275466 0.136439 0.083014 0.009396 0.000483 0.000013 -0.169850
13 -0.674661 0.275466 0.136439 0.083014 0.009396 0.000483 0.000013 -0.169850

Matching Dragon Return Table — Pay Table 2
Rank Total to Appear
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Total
A -0.674663 0.275461 0.090963 0.062265 0.007048 0.000483 0.000013 -0.238431
2 -0.675057 0.274665 0.091783 0.062280 0.006786 0.000436 0.000013 -0.239093
3 -0.675350 0.273797 0.093348 0.060162 0.005043 0.000000 0.000000 -0.243001
4 -0.675476 0.273128 0.095080 0.056542 0.002590 0.000000 0.000000 -0.248135
5 -0.674189 0.276382 0.090106 0.061898 0.007210 0.000520 0.000013 -0.238061
6 -0.672278 0.279737 0.087959 0.056733 0.006477 0.000483 0.000013 -0.240876
7 -0.672303 0.279447 0.088908 0.053894 0.005922 0.000362 0.000013 -0.243756
8 -0.668547 0.285956 0.084890 0.044280 0.003019 0.000000 0.000000 -0.250402
9 -0.669382 0.283935 0.087876 0.040487 0.001384 0.000000 0.000000 -0.255701
10 -0.674661 0.275466 0.090959 0.062260 0.007047 0.000483 0.000013 -0.238432
11 -0.674661 0.275466 0.090959 0.062260 0.007047 0.000483 0.000013 -0.238432
12 -0.674661 0.275466 0.090959 0.062260 0.007047 0.000483 0.000013 -0.238432
13 -0.674661 0.275466 0.090959 0.062260 0.007047 0.000483 0.000013 -0.238432

It is not difficult to see that this bet would be highly countable, especially with the permissible use of a score card and pen. However, there is a high house edge to overcome as well, especially with pay table 2. Sorry, but you're on your own with that.

Go back to baccarat
Go to baccarat appendix 1
Go to baccarat appendix 2
Go to baccarat appendix 3
Go to baccarat appendix 4
Go to baccarat appendix 6
Go to baccarat appendix 7

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