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Macau is well known as one of the baccarat capitals of the world. Players, particularly high rollers, flock to its famous casinos to enjoy the high-quality gaming available at the luxury resorts. Now, in honor of the upcoming Chinese mainland October Golden Week holiday, the casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau DICJ approved the launch of two new baccarat side bets.
The “Lucky 7” and “Super Lucky 7” side bets will be known by many online baccarat players, but soon, they will also be available in Macau’s land casinos. Each adds excitement to the game by giving players the chance to win some big payouts alongside the traditional baccarat payouts.
The new side bets will be introduced to both the traditional baccarat table games and the “smart” live-dealer tables found in Macau’s casinos.
The Side Bets Explained
The Lucky 7 side bet is very simple. It pays out 6:1 if the player position wins with a face value of seven made up of two cards. If the player position wins with a face value of seven made up of three cards, then the payout increases to 15:1.
The Super Lucky 7 side bet is slightly more complicated and, potentially, far more rewarding. It offers three different payouts. The highest payout, of 100:1, is awarded if the player position wins with seven points while the banker position has six points and both hands have three cards.
It will payout 40:1 if the player position wins with seven points while the banker position has six points and one hand has three cards and the other two. Finally, the Super Lucky 7 side bet pays out 30:1 if the player position wins with seven points, the banker position has six points, and both positions have two cards.
The Second New Side Bet This Year
The introduction of these two new side bets comes soon after Macau casinos were given permission to start offering the “Small 6/Big 6” side bet earlier this year to coincide with the May Golden Week holiday in mainland China.
The Small 6/Big 6 side bet pays 22:1 if the banker position wins with a value of six and the hand is comprised of two cards. It will pay 50:1 if the banker position wins with a value of six and the hand is comprised of three cards.
The side bet is very similar to the “Tiger Baccarat” game that the Singapore regulator Gambling Regulatory Authority approved for Marina Bay Sands, where it is known as “Small Tiger/Big Tiger”. Following its introduction in Macau, Citigroup published a note speculating that it could improve the hold rates for Macau’s operators. This is because the Small Tiger side bet has a house edge of 14.33% and the Big Tiger side bet has a higher house edge of 15.25%.
For comparison, the Lucky Six side bet in Macau has a house edge of 16.68% and as noted by analysts, the hold is often larger than the theoretical house edge. This means that the introduction of new side bets will almost certainly benefit the casinos.
Many More Baccarat Side Bets
The number of baccarat side bets available in Macau is likely to continue growing. They help attract more players and, as noted, almost certainly benefit the casino operators.
Those who wish to place baccarat side bets will find that there are many more of them available online. Some of the most popular are:
- Player Pair/Banker Pair – Bets that the player’s or banker’s first two cards will form a pair.
- Perfect Pair – A more specific version of the Pair bet, where the cards must not only be a pair but also be of the same suit.
- Big/Small – A bet on whether the total number of cards dealt in a round will be “Big” (5 or 6 cards) or “Small” (4 cards).
- Either Pair – A bet that either the player or the banker will receive a pair with their first two cards.
- Dragon Bonus – A side bet that pays if the hand wins by a margin of 4 or more points. The bigger the win margin, the higher the payout.
- Super Six – A bet on the banker winning with a total of 6, offering a smaller payout than usual for a banker win.
- Lucky 6 – A variation of Super Six, offering bigger payouts for a banker win with a total of 6, depending on how many cards are in play.
- Tie Bet – While this is a standard option in baccarat, it can be considered a side bet, as it allows players to wager on both the player and banker hands, resulting in a tie.
Many of these side bets are also available in Macau, but for now, it is far easier to find a good selection of baccarat side bets when playing online.
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