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. 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	Pays
   Four nines	500
   Three suited nines	250
   Three nines	20
   Two suited nines	8
   Two nines	5
   One nine of diamonds	2
   One nine	1

Analysis

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