When the patent on EZ Baccarat and its Dragon 7 side bet expired in September, 2013 (see this post), there was a bit of a land rush. Bally (Shuffle Master) was the first to get in, creating "Fortune Baccarat" with the Fortune 7 side bet. Others have followed. This post considers Dai Bacc, which is a new entry to the same intellectual property landscape.
The Tie bet is among the safest side bets in baccarat. Various approaches have been tried in developing a strategy to defeat the tie (see this post and this post). However, even using computer perfect play and a cut card placed at 7 cards, an AP who places a $100 wager on the Tie bet whenever he has the edge will only earn about $33 per shoe (0.33 units per shoe). It is unlikely any serious AP would try to defeat the Tie bet.
I first considered if the Dragon 7 baccarat side bet was susceptible to a card counting methodology in mid-2011 when it was exclusively a proprietary side bet owned by DEQ that was associated with the commission free baccarat variant EZ Baccarat. Since that time, the patent for both EZ Baccarat and the Dragon 7 bet have expired (see this post). Naturally, Shuffle Master (SHFL, Bally, whatever) pounced on the opportunity to grab the intellectual property.
The way baccarat usually operates, a winning Banker wager is charged a 5% commission, creating a house edge on the Banker bet of about 1.0579%. Another way of saying this is that a winning Banker wager pays 19-to-20. As commissions are collected and accounted, this challenging payout causes the game to slow down, losing profit for the house. One solution to this problem is to offer a "commission free" variation. These commission free versions work by choosing a rare winning Banker hand and not paying it full value.
Match the Dealer (MD) is a popular side bet offered with six-deck Spanish 21. I have never seen this wager offered on ordinary blackjack, though it is certainly possible. The wager is similar to the Pair Square side bet, paying for pairs with a premium for suited pairs. In the Pair Square bet, the player wins based on the ranks and suits of his two initial cards. In MD, the player wins if either of his two initial cards has the same rank as the dealer’s up-card.
The 21 + 3 (TP3) blackjack side bet is based on examining the player’s two cards and the dealer’s up-card. If the three cards form a flush, straight, three-of-a-kind or straight flush, the player wins. The payout for a winning TP3 wager is a flat 9-to-1 and the game has a modest house edge of 3.239%. Recently, several casino sources expressed concern about advantage play against TP3.
A few days ago I was contacted by an advantage player who asked me to evaluate a new card counting system for Lucky Lucky (LL). I told him I would do the analysis only if he gave me permission to post the results here. He agreed. His e-mail to me was the following:
One of the first games I posted about on this blog was the blackjack side bet Twenty One Plus Three (21+3). In this post, I showed that there was very little possible profit against 21+3, even using perfect play.
