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Majestic Match

Introduction

I first noticed the baccarat side bet Majestic Match on a stadium gaming machine at the Venetian on April 15, 2021. It is mathematically the same thing as what I call version 1 of the blackjack side bet Royal Match. There are a pair of Majestic Match side bets in baccarat, one of the Player hand and the other on the Banker. They win if the initial two cards are suited, with a premium win if they are a suited king and queen.

Rules

If the initial two cards of the chosen side, Player or Banker, are a suited king and queen, then the Majestic Match pays 25 to 1. Otherwise, if they are any two suited cards, it pays 2.5 to 1. Otherwise, with two cards of different suits, it loses.

Analysis

The following table shows my analysis of the Majestic Match with eight decks. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 6.46%.

Majestic Match — Eight Decks

Event Pays Combinations Probability Return
King/queen suited 25 256 0.002966 0.074143
Same suit 2.5 21,168 0.245227 0.613068
Other -1 64,896 0.751807 -0.751807
Total   86,320 1.000000 -0.064597