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Fabulous 4 Baccarat

Introduction

Fabulous 4 Baccarat is a baccarat variant I've heard is available at the Marina Bay Sands casino in Singapore.

Rules

 

I shall assume the reader is already familiar with the rules for conventional baccarat. The rules for Fabulous 4 Baccarat are the same with the following additions and exceptions.

  1. Eight decks of cards are used.
  2. A winning Banker bet shall pay 2 to 1 on a total of 1, push on a total of 4, and pay 1 to 1 on all other totals.
  3. A winning Player bet shall pay 2 to 1 on a total of 1, 1-2 on a total of 4, and pay 1 to 1 on all other totals.
  4. The tie bet pays the same 8 to 1 as conventional baccarat.
  5. There are a pair of side bets titled the "Player Fabulous Pair" and "Banker Fabulous Pair." They both pay based on the first two cards of the respective hand. A suited pair pays 7 to 1. A non-suited pair pays 4 to 1. Any two suited cards of different ranks pay 1 to 1. Cards that differ in both rank and lose lose.
  6. Another side bet titled the "Player Fabulous 4" pays 50 to 1 on a Player winning total of 4.
  7. Another side bet titled the "Banker Fabulous 4" pays 25 to 1 on a Player winning total of 4.
 

Analysis

 

The following table shows my analysis of the Player bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 1.60%.

Player Analysis

Event Pays Combinations Probability Return
Win with 1 2 24,639,193,538,560 0.004929 0.009859
Win on 2, 3, and 5-9 1 2,119,713,317,957,630 0.424079 0.424079
Win with 4 0.5 86,165,771,096,064 0.017239 0.008619
Tie 0 475,627,426,473,216 0.095156 0.000000
Player win -1 2,292,252,566,437,890 0.458597 -0.458597
Total   4,998,398,275,503,360 1.000000 -0.016041

The following table shows my analysis of the Banker bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 1.55%.

Banker Analysis

Event Pays Combinations Probability Return
Win with 1 2 24,291,119,898,624 0.004860 0.009720
Win on 2, 3, and 5-9 1 2,104,601,656,406,020 0.421055 0.421055
Win with 4 0 163,359,790,133,248 0.032682 0.000000
Tie 0 475,627,426,473,216 0.095156 0.000000
Player win -1 2,230,518,282,592,260 0.446247 -0.446247
Total   4,998,398,275,503,360 1.000000 -0.015472

The following table shows my analysis of the Tie bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 14.36%.

Tie Analysis

Event Pays Combinations Probability Return
Tie 8 475,627,426,473,216 0.095156 0.761248
Other -1 4,522,770,849,030,140 0.904844 -0.904844
Total   4,998,398,275,503,360 1.000000 -0.143596

The following table shows my analysis of the Banker Fabulous 4 bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 15.03%.

Banker Fabulous 4 Analysis

Event Pays Combinations Probability Return
Banker with 4 25 163,359,790,133,248 0.032682 0.817061
Other -1 4,835,038,485,370,110 0.967318 -0.967318
Total   4,998,398,275,503,360 1.000000 -0.150257

The following table shows my analysis of the Player Fabulous 4 bet. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 12.08%.

Player Fabulous 4 Analysis

Event Pays Combinations Probability Return
Player win with 4 50 86,165,771,096,064 0.017239 0.861934
Other -1 4,912,232,504,407,300 0.982761 -0.982761
Total   4,998,398,275,503,360 1.000000 -0.120827

The following table shows my analysis of the Fabulous Pair bets. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 11.33%.

Fabulous Pair Analysis

Event Pays Combinations Probability Return
Suited pair 7 1,456 0.016867 0.118072
Pair 4 4,992 0.057831 0.231325
Suited 1 19,968 0.231325 0.231325
Other -1 59,904 0.693976 -0.693976
Total   86,320 1.000000 -0.113253

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Written by: Michael Shackleford