Several decades ago, baccarat was reserved exclusively for the elite but, thankfully, this is no longer the case. The game is now more accessible than ever as casual players can enjoy it at hundreds of live dealer casinos right from the comfort of their surroundings.
Live dealer baccarat quickly gained traction among online gambling aficionados thanks to its flexible betting limits, decent winning odds, and uncomplicated rules. The only decision baccarat players face in each round is whether to bet on Banker, Player, or Tie.
With little to no strategy involved, the game tends to become repetitive and dull over time. This is where side bets come to players’ rescue, adding more diversity to the equation.
Baccarat boasts a proliferation of extra betting options that undoubtedly add more flair to the game but the more important question is do they offer any value to players. Stick with us as we unravel the answer.
Baccarat Side Bets at a Glance
This article is written on the premise readers already have a rudimentary understanding of the basic rules and card values in baccarat.
Those unfamiliar with the game’s objective can read more about it in our comprehensive guide to live dealer baccarat.
With that clarification out of the way, here are the main characteristics of side bets in baccarat.
Common Side Bets You Can Find in Baccarat
Baccarat facilitates an extraordinary diversity of additional betting options, so much so that available side wagers differ vastly depending on what variation you play and where you play it. What follows is a smorgasbord of side wagers you can find in the game of baccarat, including at online casinos.
Side Bets on Pairs
All Black/All Red
Big and Small
Royal Match
Matching Dragon
Lucky Bonus
Lucky 8 and Unlucky 8
Egalite Bets
Dragon Bonus
Side Bets on Pairs
The category consists of several types of side wagers. Any Pair wins whenever either the Player or the Banker hand comprises a pair of cards after the initial deal and pays at odds of 5 to 1. Perfect Pair side bets normally pay out 25 to 1 provided that the Player or Banker hand contains two cards of the same denomination and suit like two suited deuces, for example.
These extra wagers are available at some live baccarat tables powered by software suppliers BetConstruct and Playtech. Finally, there are the Player Pair and Banker Pair propositions that win at odds of 11 to 1 when the side you back receives a pair after the initial deal.
All Black/All Red
With this side bet, you wager that the Player hand will be composed of black-suited (spades, clubs) or red-suited (diamonds, hearts) cards only.
Side wagers on All Red typically pay at odds of 22 to 1, whereas those on the All Black proposition offer higher payouts of 24 to 1.
Big and Small
Also known under the name 4-5-6, this side wager is on offer in some Atlantic City casinos. Your purpose is to guess the combined number of cards dealt to the Banker and Player hands before the round ends.
A winning wager on four cards in total pays 3 to 2, i.e. you receive one and a half times your original bet. Combined totals of five or six cards result in 2 to 1 payouts.
Royal Match
Royal Match side bets are successful whenever the opening hand of the Banker or the Player consists of two specific court cards – Queen and King. The exact payouts for royal matches are based on whether the two court cards are offsuit or suited.
Offsuit matches yield payouts of 30 to 1. The true odds of suited matches are considerably longer, which results in higher payouts of 75 to 1.
Matching Dragon
A favorite of baccarat players who gamble in Macau, this side wager requires you to guess how many cards of a given denomination will be collectively dealt to the Player and Banker hands. The category is quite broad, with payouts depending on the number of matching cards. Below is the most common paytable you will come across.
| Number of Identical Cards |
Standard House Odds |
Alternative Paytable |
| 1 |
Even Money |
Even Money |
| 2 |
3 to 1 |
2 to 1 |
| 3 |
20 to 1 |
15 to 1 |
| 4 |
40 to 1 |
30 to 1 |
| 5 |
60 to 1 |
60 to 1 |
| 6 |
100 to 1 |
100 to 1 |
Eg. Banker Hand: J/2/2
Player Hand: Q/J/2
A side bet on a deuce would return a payout of 20 to 1 for the three deuces, whereas one on the Jack would pay 3 to 1 for the two Jacks. A bet on a single Queen would pay at even-money odds, respectively. All other Matching Dragon side wagers would result in losses.
Lucky Bonus
The Lucky Bonus side wager is successful whenever the Banker hand wins with a total of six, in which case it pays at odds of 18 to 1. You must also back the Banker side with a main wager on the same round to qualify for winning the Lucky Bonus.
The maximum you can stake on the side bet amounts to 10% of your main wager on Banker. The Super 6 is a variation of the Lucky Bonus bet that pays 12 to 1 if the Banker wins with a total of six, without the obligation to commit with a main wager on this outcome.
Lucky 8 and Unlucky 8
When placing a Lucky 8 side bet, you wager that either the Banker or the Player side will prevail with a hand total of no more, no less than eight. Predicting this outcome correctly typically rewards players with a 4 to 1 payout.
Unlucky 8 practically mirrors the Lucky 8, because it wins whenever either Player or Banker loses the round with an exact total of eight. Another difference results from the higher payout for this proposition, which amounts to 8 to 1.
Egalite Bets
The group comprises an extensive array of side wagers placed on distinct ties, for instance, final Banker/Player totals of 7/7 or 8/8. In essence, this is an extension of the standard tie bet in baccarat but much more specific.
The house odds are based on the difficulty of making a correct prediction for each egalite wager, although there may be payout variations across different casinos. The table below outlines the most standard payouts for egalite bets.
| Player/Banker Tie |
Standard House Odds |
Likelihood of Winning |
| 9/9 |
80 to 1 |
1.10% |
| 8/8 |
80 to 1 |
1.09% |
| 7/7 |
45 to 1 |
2.03% |
| 6/6 |
45 to 1 |
1.92% |
| 5/5 |
110 to 1 |
0.79% |
| 4/4 |
120 to 1 |
0.72% |
| 3/3 |
200 to 1 |
0.44% |
| 2/2 |
225 to 1 |
0.40% |
| 1/1 |
215 to 1 |
0.41% |
| 0/0 |
150 to 1 |
0.57% |
At some baccarat tables, players have the option to bet on entire egalite groups such as 1-3 (pays 70 to 1) and 6-7 (pays 22 to 1) ties. The payouts are understandably lower because egalites stand better winning chances when grouped.
Dragon Bonus
This is arguably the most popular and widespread category of size bets in baccarat. It involves wagering on the Player or Banker hand to win but you must also predict the exact margin between the winning and the losing side.
The wider the margin of the win, the bigger the payout for Dragon Bonus side bets. The winning side must prevail either with a natural hand (two-card totals of 9 or 8) or have a victory margin of at least four points. The most widespread payouts are as follows:
| Victory Margin in Pts | Standard Odds |
| 3 pts or fewer | Side Bet Loses |
| 4 pts | Even Money |
| 5 pts | 2 to 1 |
| 6 pts | 4 to 1 |
| 7 pts | 6 to 1 |
| 8 pts | 10 to 1 |
| 9 pts | 30 to 1 |
| Natural Winners (8 or 9) | Even Money |
| Natural Tie (8/8 or 9/9) | Push |
Monstrous House Edges in Baccarat Side Bets
Baccarat is a game that moves at a relatively leisurely pace, requiring little to no decision-making on behalf of players. Pretty much the only decision you face here is whether to bet on Player, Banker, or Tie. The gameplay tends to get a bit stale after a while as a result and this is where side betting options come in handy.
House Edges in the Main Game
House Edges of Common Side Bets
Go for Side Bets with Lower Negative Expectation
House Edges in the Main Game
Some baccarat fans use side bets to diversify their gaming sessions and potentially hit the big moolah. The trouble with these wagers is that they are severely tilted in favor of the house and can quickly deplete your bankroll if you are not careful.
To give you some context, the main betting propositions on Player and Banker offer some of the best winning odds you can hope to find in a casino. The house advantage on these wagers is as follows:
- 1.06% for the Player side
- 1.24% for the Banker side
The standard Tie wager in the main game also carries the potential to yield larger payouts of 8 to 1 (expressed as 9 for 1 in some cases, which is the same thing) but this comes at the expense of horrendous house edges of 14.36% in eight-deck games and 14.61% in six-deck baccarat.
House Edges of Common Side Bets
All side wagers we discussed earlier also yield higher house edges but few cause you to give up over 14% of your advantage to the casino. The Super 6 side bet is one notable exception as it produces a monstrous house edge that comes shockingly close to 30%. Out of all gambling games, only keno gives the casino a greater advantage.
| Baccarat Side Bet | House Edge |
| Perfect Pair | 13.03% for eight-deck games and 17.07% for six-deck baccarat with 25 to 1 payouts |
| Either Pair | 13.71% |
| Player/Banker Pair | 11.14% for Player Pairs and 11.21% for Banker Pairs in six-deck games, 10.36% in eight-deck baccarat |
| All Red/All Black | 14% for All Red, 6.53% for all black |
| Big and Small (4-5-6) | 5.27% for the Small proposition, 4.35% for the Big proposition |
| Royal Match | 2.13% |
| Matching Dragon | 16.99% |
| Lucky Bonus/Super 6 | 2.34% for Lucky Bonus, 29.98% for Super 6 |
| Lucky 8/Unlucky 8 | 13.65% on Player and 16.60% on Banker |
| Egalite Bets | From 6.38% to 12.45% on individual egalite ties; from 6.65% to 10.86% on egalite groups |
| Dragon Bonus | 2.65% for the Player side, 9.37% for the Banker side |
| Panda 8 | 10.18% |
| Dragon 7 | 7.61% |
| Three-Card 6 | 13.37% |
Now, what do these percentages mean when it comes to profits, or should we say losses? Simply put, the figures above represent the ratio of money lost to the overall money wagered. The higher the house edge percentage, the greater the losses players are bound to incur over time.
In other words, those who consistently play the Matching Dragon will end up losing approximately 17 cents out of every dollar wagered. By contrast, players who post the Royal Match bet routinely will lose only 2 cents per dollar wagered.
Worth stressing out is that it takes some time to arrive at these figures since the house edge manifests itself gradually over the long run. The bottom line is the more you persist with posting baccarat side bets, the closer you get to the negative-expectation percentages above.
Go for Side Bets with Lower Negative Expectation
From this perspective, none of these bets are playable since they all put you at a greater disadvantage than what you will experience in the main game with the Player/Banker propositions. If you are hell-bent on playing side bets, the most you can do is pick the options with the lowest house edges. Your baccarat bankroll will last longer this way.
We suggest you side bet sparingly and go for the following wagers as you will be least disadvantaged when playing them.
- Royal Match (2.13%)
- Dragon Bonus on the Player side (2.65%)
- Lucky Bonus (2.34%)
- Big and Small on the Big proposition (4.35%)
Are Baccarat Side Wagers Beatable?
The short answer to this question is yes, some of them are in theory. To elaborate further, savvy players can only beat baccarat side wagers provided that certain conditions are met. Gambling experts suggest that some side bets are susceptible to card counting and frequently cite the Dragon Bonus wager as a prime example.
Effect of Card Removal in Baccarat
Setbacks Preventing Players from Exploiting Baccarat Side Bets
Effect of Card Removal in Baccarat
Such reasoning is predominantly based on the effect of card removal in baccarat, i.e. some cards have a more pronounced impact on the winning odds when out of play than others.
Low-denomination cards like aces, deuces, and 3s are said to have the highest effect of removal. This is because starting hands that receive a third card cannot win by a large point margin when the draw consists of these cards. In turn, this reduces the probability of earning a payout from the Dragon Bonus side bet.
Conversely, high-denomination cards like 9, 8, and 7 can lead to higher hand totals on draws, increasing the likelihood of bonus payouts. The 9 and 8 are also more likely to result in natural winning hands. It follows that these high-denomination cards have the most negative effect of removal.
The leisurely pace of play and the scoreboards allowed at baccarat tables also work to the benefit of advantage players who seek to exploit side bets like the Dragon Bonus. Advantage players are recommended to target the Player side of the Dragon Bonus wager since it has a lower house edge (2.65%) that would be easier to overcome through counting.
Setbacks Preventing Players from Exploiting Baccarat Side Bets
One major setback is that the dealer must give you deep enough shoe penetration for counting to be effective. The dealer should cut no more than two decks from the end of the shoe or else counting the Dragon Bonus bet is of no value. The ideal placement of the cut card is half a deck from the shoe’s end for counters to gain a decent edge on this side wager.
Closing Points
To wrap things up, entertainment value is pretty much the only kind of value baccarat players can find in side bets. While some are theoretically susceptible to advantage play, the playing conditions at most casinos rarely allow players to beat them in practice. In short, you should either altogether refrain from side betting or occasionally opt for the side wagers that yield the lowest house edge.
