Lucky Nines

Introduction

I first noticed the Lucky Nines side bet on a baccarat machine on a bar top multi-game machine by Interblock at Binion's Las Vegas on October 13, 2019. I would later see it on June 26, 2023 at the Red Rock casino in Las Vegas with a more liberal pay table. The bet pays according to the number of nines between the Player's and Banker's initial two cards and whether they are suited.

Rules

1. Eight decks are used.
2. Two cards are dealt to the Player and Banker hands each.
3. The Lucky Nines bet pays according to the following pay table and those initial four cards. Pays are on a "to one" basis.

   Lucky Nines Pay Table

   Event	Binion's Pay Table	Red Rock Pay Table
   4 Nines	500	1,000
   3 Nines, same suit	250	500
   3 Nines, mixed suits	20	35
   2 Nines, same suit	8	16
   2 Nines, mixed suits	5	5
   1 Nine of diamonds	2	2
   1 Nine	1	1

Analysis

The following table shows the number of combinations, probability, and contribution to the return of all possible outcomes under the Binion's pay table. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 19.46%.

The next table shows my analysis of the Lucky Nines under the Red Rock pay table. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 8.27%.

Card Counting the Lucky Nines

The unit I saw this side bet on shuffled the cards between hands. If you find this side bet based on a live dealer game, it would be very vulnerable to card counting (shut up Wiz!).