One of the easiest games to learn at Australian online casinos is baccarat. That’s because all you really have to do is bet. For some people, standard baccarat gets old quick. That’s why there are multiple variants of the game out there. One of those variants is Big Win Baccarat.
Big Win Baccarat is a fun variant of the standard game of baccarat found at Australian online casinos. Today, you’ll learn how to play the game and the different bets you can make.
How to Play Big Win Baccarat
Big Win Baccarat is your standard form of baccarat but with a few extra side bets. Most of you already know how baccarat works. The object is to get as close to 9 as possible. Of course, you have no control over how you get to 9 as all gameplay is controlled by the dealer (or computer in the case of online baccarat.) The only thing you can do is to bet.
Normally, you only can bet on the Player, the Banker (Dealer), or a Tie. Big Win Baccarat gives you three additional bets. They are all based on whether someone gets a pair. You can bet on Any Pair, Player Pair, or Dealer Pair.
For any pair, you’re betting that someone will have a pair in their first two cards. The bet wins 5 to 1. You can also bet Player Pair or Dealer Pair. These bets pay 11 to 1.
Note that these bets only apply to the first two cards dealt. If a third card is dealt and there is a pair made from the third card, you do not win the bet. Also, the pair bets pay off regardless of whether you win the main hand.
The odds on the standard bets are similar to standard baccarat. A bet on the Player wins 1 to 1 and a bet on the Banker wins 0.95 to 1. A tie bet results in a payout of 8 to 1.
One thing that makes this game unique over standard baccarat is that you don’t have to bet on the main hands in the game. You can make bets entirely on side bets. For example, I bet on Player Pair and Any Pair at the same time and when the player got a pair, I won both bets.
How Bad is the House Edge on the Side Bets?
Most of you know that side bets bring a significant house edge to the casino. As such, you should know what you’re giving up by playing the side bets. The better of the bets are going to be the Any Pair bet. It has a house edge of around 14.5%.
The house edge on the Player or Banker pair bets jumps all the way to 18.7%. That’s based on a six-card deck. You’re giving up a significant edge to the casino when playing these bets as the standard house edge is 1 to 1.2%.
The Best Way to Play This Game
There are going to be many that tell you to avoid this game entirely. However, if you are going to play the game, you should have some type of strategy.
The lowest variance way to play the side bets is to bet the Any Pair bet. Betting that along with the Banker is going to give you the lowest variance overall.
If you don’t mind a bit of variance, you could consider playing both the Any Pair and the Banker or Player Pair bet. For example, if you bet the Banker, Banker Pair, and any pair, you will win 5 to 1 on the Any Pair and 11 to 1 on the Banker pair when you hit. That’s a 16 to 2 payout overall.
Big Win Baccarat can get you some big wins, but it will come with some high variance. You can find the game at all online casinos in Australia offering iSoftBet table games.