Side Bets in Baccarat

One of the reasons people like playing online baccarat is the lack of complexity you’d find in other card games. It’s a chance-based game, requiring no more thought and strategizing put into it than a simple heads or tails decision. Without any critical thinking or maneuvering, however, things can get a bit bland.

No worries, though, if there’s one thing that’s surely infinite besides the universe, it’s the game developers’ ability to come up with new ideas to diversify their products. Side bets in baccarat add a nice flair to the otherwise simplistic gameplay and are offered at both land-based and online casinos. Let’s have a look at some of the most popular ones.

Most Popular Side Bets in Baccarat

• Bellagio Match: A side bet on three-of-a-kind in the multi-player game hosted by an animated dealer. The payout is 75:1 for a Player three-of-a-kind with a 5.27% house edge and 68:1 for a Banker’s at a 8.57% house edge.
• Super 6: You can place this bet at UK land-based casinos and some live casinos online. It pays 12:1 if the winning Banker hand is a total of six. This is the side bet with the biggest house edge – a whopping 29.98%.
• 3-Card Six: Again a side bet offered at the Pala Casino. You get a 100:1 payout if both the Player and Banker get a 3-card 6 hand and an 8:1 if only one hand does. The house edge is 13.37%.
• 4-5-6: resumably, a side bet played in Atlantic City. There are 3 bets available on the total value for each hand. 4 pays 3:2, 5 and 6 pays 2:1.
• Lucky Bonus: The lucky bonus is a side bet offered at the commission-free Baccarat tables in the Pala Casino in California. It’s a wager on the Banker hand being a winning six. The side bet gives a Player advantage of 2.34% and because of that, you can’t place a wager that’s more than 10 percent of the Banker bet. It’s one of the side bets with the most player-friendly RTP as the house edge between it and the Banker bet is 1.11%. The payout is 18:1.
• Royal Match: A side bet rumored to be offered at London casinos. It can be wagered on either the Player or Banker drawing a King and Queen in the first two dealt cards. The house edge is very player-friendly at 2.13% The payout is 75:1 for a suited King & Queen and 30:1 for non-suited.

Dragon 7: This side bet is offered in EZ Baccarat – a game extremely popular with Chinese customers. A Dragon 7 appears when the Banker gets a winning 3-card 7 and pays 40:1. The side bet increases the house edge to 7.61% but the game doesn’t feature a commission on the Banker.

Dragon Bonus: The Dragon Bonus is not exactly a baccarat casino bonus, but rather a side bet that pays out if you win with a natural 9 or 8 or if you win by a large margin – at least four points. The highest baccarat payout is 30 to 1 for a non-natural winning hand that wins by nine points. Keep in mind that the Dragon Bonus bet has to be made before you make a standard baccarat bet and on the same side – player or banker. These are the Dragon Baccarat Bonus payouts that apply to both the banker and the player.

• Natural win (two-card 8 or 9) pays 1:1
• Natural tie (two-card 8/8 or 9/9) is a push
• Win by 9 pays 30:1
• Win by 8 pays 10:1
• Win by 7 pays 6:1
• Win by 6 pays 4:1
• Win by 5 pays 2:1
• Win by 4 pays 1:1
• All other results are a loss

If both hands are natural and the result is a tie, the Dragon Bonus bet is a push. The side bet affects the house edge, making it 2.65% for player (the standard is 1.24%) and 9.37% for banker against the standard 1.01%. Although immensely popular in Asian casinos, the Dragon bonus version can be found in casinos all around the world, and in many online baccarat casinos as well.

Matching Dragon: This type of wager encompasses 13 side bets or one for each rank. The payout is based on the number of cards of the chosen rank that will appear in the next hand. All cards dealt count. Here are the payouts:

For example, if the Player hand is Q – 2 – 2 and the Banker is K – Q – 2 and the bet is on a 2, the payout would be 20:1 for the three 2s, 3:1 for the two Qs and 1:1 for the one K. All other bets lose.

Either Pair: A side bet available at online Playtech casinos that pays if the first two dealt cards of either the Player or Banker form a pair. It’s got a 5:1 payout.

Perfect Pair: Like in Blackjack, this is a wager that the first two cards of either the Player or the Banker are a suited pair which pays 25:1. It’s offered in Playtech games.

Rabbit Play: A pair of side bets which are available in Las Vegas. They have an 8.07% house edge for Player and 9.31% house edge for Banker.

Egalite bets: These are side bets on specific ties, for example both totaling 6. Egalites can have different payouts for each tie or be grouped. The payouts for Egalites on specific ties are:

• Panda 8: Another side bet from EZ Baccarat which pays 25:1 if the Player gets a winning 3-card 8. The house edge with this bet becomes 10.19%.
• All Red/Black: If you get all red cards, this side bet pays 22:1 and 24:1 if you get all black cards. You can find this bet offered at live casinos.
• First Two Banker/Player Cards Same Suit: Pretty self-explanatory, this is wager on the first two Player or Banker cards being the same suit. The payout is 2.87:1 for a suited Player hand at a house edge of 4.20% and 28.6:1 for Banker at a house edge of 3.95%. You can find this side bet in some live games online.
• Total Points Over/Under 9.5: With this side bet, you place a wager on the sum of the final Player and Banker points. The payout is 66:1 if both hands total more than 9.5 points and 1.23% if the total is under 9.5 points. This wager, which is similar to the sports over/under bets, is available at online casinos.
• Total Points Odd/Even: With this option available at live dealer casinos, you can place a wager on the sum of both Player and Banker hands being either odd or even. It pays 0.92:1 for an odd total number and 0.91:1 for an even total.
• Lucky 8: The opposite of the Unlucky 8 – a bet that the chosen hand Player or Banker will be a winning with a total of 8 points. The payout is 4:1 with a 13.65% house edge for Player and 16.60% for Banker.
• Unlucky 8: A side bet that a chosen hand – either Player or Banker will be a losing one with a total of 8 points. The payout is 8:1.
• Double suited 3-card 8: A wager that both Banker and Player have a suited 3-card 8. The suits can be different for the two hands. The payout is 200:1.
• Suited 3-card 8: Pays 25:1 if either the Banker or the Player has a suited 3-card 8.
• Double 8: A wager that both the Banker and Player hands will total 8 points. This side bet pays 15:1.

Quik is a side bet based on the combined total of the Player and Banker points with an 8.155% house edge. If the combined points are:

• 0 – pays 50:1
• 18 – pays 25:1
• 1, 2, 3, 15, 16, 17 – pays 1:1
• 4 to 14 – loss

Big and Small: Offered at online Playtech casinos, this side bet has the same payouts as the 4-5-6 bet. A ‘Small’ pays 3:2 if the total of the Player and Banker’s hands totals 4. The ‘Big’ pays 2:1 if the total is 5 or 6. The house edge is 5.27% for the ‘Small’ and 4.35% for the ‘Big’.

If you want to find out more about the general rules of Baccarat, have a look at our baccarat guide page where you will also find information on the rules for drawing additional cards and how to use scorecards to trace patterns.