How to Make Baccarat Side Bets

For years, Baccarat has been a staple in every casino. It’s a simple game with not much to it besides its three initial bets. However, replaying the same game over and over with zero variations can cause it to become a bit stale. In order to solve this, casinos and players alike have created a variety of different side bets in order to liven up the game and give it a breath of fresh air. 

If you’ve never played Baccarat before, the rules are easy to understand. Baccarat’s basic foundation revolves around its bets. 

There are two bets for you to choose from, namely being the Player Bet or Banker Bet. If you bet on one, that means you’re betting on that one to win.

How to Play Baccarat

How to win is simple. Once you’ve placed your bets and side bets, the banker deals out two cards for both you as the player and themselves. Totalling the values of both cards is the next step. All high cards like the King, Queen, and the 10 are all worth 0. The Ace is worth 1 and all proceeding cards are worth their face value. 

If you end up getting over a total value of 9 such as 11 or 18, your total value is the value of the singles digit on the right. This means that if your total is 10, your value is 0, and if your total is 17, your value is 7. 

Getting a total of 8 or 9 with your cards is what’s known as a ‘natural’. If either the player or the banker has a natural, then both players stand and don’t draw a third card.

If you get a value of 6 or 7, then you stand. However, if you end up getting a total value less than 6, then you are given a third card. The same goes for the banker. If you don’t have a natural and have a hand value of 6 or 7, then the banker will also take a third card only if their total is 5 or less. 

The odds for betting on the player or the banker are 1 to 1, but the banker keeps a small commission of the bets placed on them, so your odds for betting on the banker essentially become 0.95 to 1. 

It doesn’t involve too many game mechanics or complex thinking and is entirely left up to chance. This gives the game its simple yet powerful gameplay that people have come to love. However, as stated earlier, this sort of gameplay can lose its flavour after several repetitions with zero variety. 

This is where side bets come in.

How to Make Baccarat Side Bets

Making side bets in any form of Baccarat is just as easy as it is to learn the game—because making bets is part of the game.

To make a side bet, simply place your side bet to the side along with your actual bets. If you’d prefer, you could bet on the side bets instead of the normal player/banker/tie bets.

The different side bets and their availability all differ depending on where you’re playing. Some online casinos have Baccarat options with side bet options while others don’t. The same goes for land casinos. There are no constants when it comes to Baccarat’s side bets aside from its three initial bets and foundational rules mentioned earlier.

Examples of Baccarat Side Bets

There is an incredible number of side bets available for Baccarat that have accumulated over years of extensive gameplay. One of the most popular is the Tie Side Bet. Betting on the Tie Side Bet is betting that both the player and banker will have the same values by the end. This side bet has its odds at 8 to 1; however, some casinos change the odds for ties to 9 to 1 instead.

Some others, most commonly used in Baccarat software by Playtech with Triple-G Software, are the pair bets and Big and Small bets.

Pair Side Bets

There are a total of 4 pair side bets in total. They are the Player Pair, Banker Pair, Either Pair, and Perfect Pair. While all of them are different from one another, they all have the same thing in common: pairs. 

Starting with the Player Pair and Banker Pair, both of these side bets are for betting on whether or not the player or banker will have their first two drawn cards be a pair. The odds for both the Player Pair and Banker Pair are both 11 to 1.

If you aren’t quite sure or would prefer to cover as much ground as possible, the Either Pair side bet is always an option. The Either Pair side bet is for betting on there being at least one participant having a pair, whether they are the player or the banker. Its odds are lesser at 5 to 1 due to its higher chances of occurring.

The last pair side bet is the Perfect Pair. This one has massive odds at 25 to 1. The conditions for this one involve both the player and banker having pairs in their two starting cards.

Big and Small Side Bets

The Big and Small side bets involve both the player and the banker. To bet on the Big side bet is to bet that both participants’ total card values will be either 5 or 6. The odds for the Big side bet are 0.50 to 1. 

The Small side bet on the other hand has its odds set at 1.5 to 1. Making the Small side bet is for betting on both participants having their hand total values be exactly 4, no more and no less.

These rules may change from casino to casino, but the essence remains the same.

Dragon 7 Side Bets

Dragon 7 side bets are almost exclusively used for Chinese players at EZ Baccarat casinos. In order to win, the banker must have 3 cards in hand and have their total value equal to 7. This means that their initial two cards have a total value of less than 6 and that they draw a third card that puts them exactly at 7. Due to its rarity, the odds for this side bet are set at 40 to 1.

3-Card Six Side Bets

The 3-Card Six side bet is most commonly found in Commission-Free Baccarat games. This side bet has immense odds at 100 to 1. In order to win this side bet and its 100 to 1 odds, both the player and the banker must have 3 cards in their hand with a total of 6 each. 

If only one gets the 3-Card Six, then the player only wins with odds of 8 to 1. If neither the player nor banker has a 3-Card Six, the bet is lost.

Conclusion

There are undoubtedly more side bets available out there besides the ones listed above and each of them focuses on specific circumstances or chances. The side bets above may even be different from casino to casino. However, regardless of any modifications, all side bets are meant to enhance gameplay and spice up the game. You can’t go wrong with reading up on the side bets available.

Now armed with the knowledge to play Baccarat and make side bets, head over to your most accessible casino and play a few games. You’ll be climbing up the ranks and making correct choices in no time.

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