Perfect 9 Bonus Baccarat

Introduction

Perfect 9 Baccarat Bonus is a simple two-card side bet for baccarat and the baccarat variant Pinoy Lucky 9. It could be used on any baccarat-based game. It wins if the two cards total a baccarat score of 9. It can be found at the Okada casino in Manila, Philippines.

Please note that when writing about baccarat, I capitalize the names of bets, in particular the Player and Banker, and use lower case when referring to those playing or banking the game.

Rules

1. Any number of 52-card decks may be used, but I expect eight decks is the norm.
2. The point value of each card is as follows:
   • Ace = 1 point
   • 2 to 9 = Pip value
   • 10 and faces = 0 points
3. Wins shall be based on the first two cards dealt to the Player hand.
4. The point value of the Player hand is found by taking the sum of the point value of the initial two cards. If this total is greater than 9, then the tens digit is dropped. For example, a 6 and 9 will have a point value of 5.
5. The pay table used at the Okada casino is as follows:
   • Suited ace-8, 2-7, 3-6, and 4-5 pays 20 to 1.
   • Unsuited ace-8, 2-7, 3-6, and 4-5 pays 10 to 1.
   • 10-9 and Face-9 pays 5 to 1.
6. Other pay tables are available by the developer of the side bet and are addressed in the Analysis section below.

Analysis

The following table shows my analysis of Perfect 9 Bonus Baccarat, assuming eight decks. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 7.47%.

The game developer indicates 16 pay tables available for this side bet. Currently, number 16 is used at the Okada casino. The following is the expected return for all 16, assuming eight decks. Following are descriptions of the column headings:

Written by: Michael Shackleford