Mega Baccarat from Pragmatic Play

Pragmatic Play have added to their Mega range of multiplier games with Mega Baccarat.

Like their other Mega’s (eg Mega Sicbo, Mega Roulette), Mega Baccarat takes a familiar casino game and spices things up a bit with the addition of random multipliers.

Mega Baccarat is now up and running at a few live casinos carrying Pragmatic Play casinos, including 888, Betvictor and bet365.

How to play Mega Baccarat?

If you’ve played any live baccarat games then Mega Baccarat will not be a stretch. It’s a regular baccarat deal (from an 8 deck shoe) with the same bets (Player, Banker & Tie on the main game), same win conditions (position closest to 9 wins) and same third card rules.

The key difference – Mega Baccarat introduces the Mega Round where payouts are elevated substantially, and it’s a couple of dice in a shaker that decide whether each round will be a regular round or a Mega Round.

Presentation of roadmaps, and bet positions are as per other Pragmatic Play live baccarat tables. The giveaway that there’s more to this table is the dice shaker left of the dealer.

A chip on your chosen bet gets you in the game.

Then, after bets close but before the deal the shaker does its thing. A pair of dice rumble and a result totalling 8 or 9 means the round will be a Mega Round.

The more common outcome is a regular round, where payouts mirror Punto Banco baccarat (Player 1:1, Banker 0.95:1, Tie 8:1), aside from the operation of the 20% Mega Fee discussed below.

Below is a regular round Banker win paying 0.95:1.

Mega Round

When the shaker does produce an 8 or 9 total, as below, the round becomes a Mega Round.

You’ll then notice the payouts for Player, Tie and Banker all increase. The increase can be up to 100x the regular payout so a Tie payout of 800:1 is a possibility. The quantum of the increase is computer generated. You’re in the lap of the RNG gods here.

While 100:1 Banker/Player and 800:1 Tie payout are possible, in most cases the multipliers applied are around 2 to 5 times the regular payout.

The Mega Round deal then commences.

A win pays according to the multiplied payouts. In this case, a Banker win paying double the normal 0.95:1.

Payouts

Below is the Mega Baccarat payout table.

Payouts are presented as a range…the low figure is the regular payout. The high figure is the highest possible Mega Round payout.

Few key takeaways:

• The 20% Mega Fee
  20% of any bet you place is deducted from your account to help pay for those Mega multipliers. For example, if you bet €1 on Banker, a €1 chip goes on the Banker position. A further €20 is deducted from your account and goes direct to the house.
• Banker regular payout expressed as 1:1?
  Rather than a 0.95:1 payout, they call it 1:1 but, ‘95% of your Banker bet is returned if Banker wins‘.
  It’s the same thing. Just makes the presentation of multipliers a lot more simple.
• Pairs Side bets
  Yes, Pairs side bets are available and they also multiply (up to 1000:1) on the Mega Round. Here you’re betting any pair is dealt to the Player or Banker position.

Theoretical returns

Return to player rates on this game are pretty good. Within a whisker of the optimal bet on standard baccarat tables (98.94%). Mega Baccarat RTP rates, by bet type are:

• Player: 98.54%
• Banker: 98.79%
• Tie: 95%
• Pairs side bets: 97%

The games full house rules are here.