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Power Baccarat 98
Introduction
Baccarat 98 is a baccarat variant offered at the Marina Bay Sands casino in Singapore. It plays like conventional baccarat, except a die is used to randomly increase certain wins.
Rules
Unless otherwise noted, the rules in this page refer to "version 3.2" of game. Three previous versions were known to exist. That said, all rules are the same as baccarat, except as noted. To avoid confusion, I capitalize the names of the bets, including Player, when referring to the bet, and use lower case when referring to the person playing the game.
- Eight decks of cards are used.
- Bets available are:
- Player
- Banker
- Tie
- Player pair
- Banker pair
- Player natural 8
- Player natural 9
- Banker natural 8
- Banker natural 9.
- After wagers have been made, a die will be rolled. If the die lands on three, then the current hand shall be referred to as a "Power Hand," with greater wins in some situations.
- The following table shows the pay table according to whether it is a power hand or normal hand.
Power Baccarat 98 Pay Table
Bet Regular Hand Power Hand Player 1 1.05* Banker 0.95 1* Tie 8 10 Banker pair 11 15 Player pair 11 15 Player winning natural 8 8 9 Player winning natural 9 8 9 Banker winning natural 8 8 9 Banker winning natural 9 8 9 Note: Power hand wins for Player and Banker bets are only eligible on natural 8 and 9 wins. Other wins to be paid at the "regular hand" rate.
- Bets on any natural winner may be limited to the amount of the Player or Banker bet.
- I don't know exactly where the cut card is placed, but I understand it is not as deep as conventional baccarat, to protect the Natural 8 and 9 bets from card counters.
Odds
The following table shows the possible outcomes of the Player bet before the die is shaken. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 1.10%.
Player Bet
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power win on natural 8 or 9 | 1.05 | 812,685,054,124,032 | 0.027098 | 0.028453 |
| Any other win | 1 | 12,570,424,641,429,500 | 0.419148 | 0.419148 |
| Tie | 0 | 2,853,764,558,839,300 | 0.095156 | 0.000000 |
| Loss | -1 | 13,753,515,398,627,300 | 0.458597 | -0.458597 |
| Total | 29,990,389,653,020,100 | 1.000000 | -0.010996 |
The following table shows the possible outcomes of the Banker bet before the die is shaken. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 0.92%.
Banker Bet
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power win on natural 8 or 9 | 1 | 812,685,054,124,032 | 0.027098 | 0.027098 |
| Any other win | 0.95 | 12,940,830,344,503,200 | 0.431499 | 0.409924 |
| Tie | 0 | 2,853,764,558,839,300 | 0.095156 | 0.000000 |
| Loss | -1 | 13,383,109,695,553,500 | 0.446247 | -0.446247 |
| Total | 29,990,389,653,020,100 | 1.000000 | -0.009224 |
The following table shows the possible outcomes of the Player bet before the die is shaken. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 1.10%.
Player Bet
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power win on natural 8 or 9 | 1.05 | 812,685,054,124,032 | 0.027098 | 0.028453 |
| Any other win | 1 | 12,570,424,641,429,500 | 0.419148 | 0.419148 |
| Tie | 0 | 2,853,764,558,839,300 | 0.095156 | 0.000000 |
| Loss | -1 | 13,753,515,398,627,300 | 0.458597 | -0.458597 |
| Total | 29,990,389,653,020,100 | 1.000000 | -0.010996 |
The following table shows the possible outcomes of the Tie bet before the die is shaken. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 13.63%.
Tie Bet
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power win on 8 or 9 tie | 10 | 110,025,470,735,104 | 0.003669 | 0.036687 |
| Any other tie | 8 | 2,743,739,088,104,190 | 0.091487 | 0.731898 |
| Loss | -1 | 27,136,625,094,180,800 | 0.904844 | -0.904844 |
| Total | 29,990,389,653,020,100 | 1.000000 | -0.136259 |
The following table shows the possible outcomes of either Pair bet before the die is shaken. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 9.60%.
Pair Bets
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power win on pair of 8s or 9s | 15 | 992 | 0.001915 | 0.028730 |
| Other pair | 11 | 37,696 | 0.072783 | 0.800618 |
| Loss | -1 | 479,232 | 0.925301 | -0.925301 |
| Total | 517,920 | 1.000000 | -0.095953 |
The following table shows the possible outcomes of either winning natural 8 bet before the die is shaken. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 29.73%.
Natural 8 Bets
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power win on Natural 8 | 9 | 383,162,433,871,872 | 0.012776 | 0.114986 |
| Any other win on natural 8 | 8 | 1,915,812,169,359,360 | 0.063881 | 0.511047 |
| Loss | -1 | 27,691,415,049,788,900 | 0.923343 | -0.923343 |
| Total | 0 | 29,990,389,653,020,200 | 1.000000 | -0.297310 |
The following table shows the possible outcomes of either Natural 9 bet before the die is shaken. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 21.23%.
Natural 9 Bets
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power win on Natural 9 | 9 | 429,522,620,252,160 | 0.014322 | 0.128898 |
| Any other win on natural 9 | 8 | 2,147,613,101,260,800 | 0.071610 | 0.572880 |
| Loss | -1 | 27,413,253,931,507,200 | 0.914068 | -0.914068 |
| Total | 29,990,389,653,020,200 | 1.000000 | -0.212290 |
Summary
Following is a summary of the house edge of each type of bet offered. The lowest is on the Banker at 0.92%.
Summary
| Bet | House Edge |
|---|---|
| Player | 1.10% |
| Banker | 0.92% |
| Tie | 13.63% |
| Pairs | 9.60% |
| Natural 8s | 29.73% |
| Natural 9s | 21.23% |
Version 3.1 Rules
From about June to September 2012 the rules were different on the natural 8 and 9 bets. I refer to this period as the version 3.1 rules. The only difference between the 3.1 and 3.2 rules is that under 3.1 the natural 8 and 9 bets didn't have to win, and under 3.2 they do. The pay table remains the same. Here are the return tables for the natural bets under version 3.1.
The following table shows the possible outcomes of either natural 8 bet before the die is shaken. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 13.35%.
Natural 8 Bets
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power win on Natural 8 | 9 | 8160 | 0.015755 | 0.141798 |
| Any other win on natural 8 | 8 | 40800 | 0.078777 | 0.630213 |
| Loss | -1 | 468960 | 0.905468 | -0.905468 |
| Total | 517920 | 1.000000 | -0.133457 |
The following table shows the possible outcomes of either Natural 9 bet before the die is shaken. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 13.01%.
Natural 9 Bets
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power win on Natural 9 | 9 | 8192 | 0.015817 | 0.142354 |
| Any other win on natural 9 | 8 | 40960 | 0.079086 | 0.632685 |
| Loss | -1 | 468768 | 0.905097 | -0.905097 |
| Total | 517920 | 1.000000 | -0.130059 |
Version 2 Rules
Prior to June 4 the rules were the same, except for the natural 8 and 9 bets. Under these "version 2" rules of the game all four natural bets had to win, but paid more. Here are the specific rules for those bets.
The following table shows the possible outcomes of either winning natural 8 bet before the die is shaken. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 7.37%.
Winning Natural 8 Bets — Version 2
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power win on Natural 8 | 11.5 | 2,262,788,096 | 0.012776 | 0.146926 |
| Any other win on natural 8 | 11 | 11,313,940,480 | 0.063881 | 0.702690 |
| Loss | -1 | 163,533,266,304 | 0.923343 | -0.923343 |
| Total | 177,109,994,880 | 1.000000 | -0.073727 |
The following table shows the possible outcomes of either Natural 9 bet before the die is shaken. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 4.76%.
Winning Natural 9 Bets — Version 2
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Power win on Natural 9 | 10.5 | 2,536,570,880 | 0.014322 | 0.150381 |
| Any other win on natural 9 | 10 | 12,682,854,400 | 0.071610 | 0.716100 |
| Loss | -1 | 161,890,569,600 | 0.914068 | -0.914068 |
| Total | 177,109,994,880 | 1.000000 | -0.047586 |
Outside Links
Game rules at the Marina Bay Sands, from the Singapore Casino Regulatory Authority.