Baccarat Side Bets: Dragon Bonus, Dragon 7, Panda 8 and Pairs

Most baccarat tables offer more than the three main bets on Player, Banker and Tie. Around them sit side bets with bigger payouts: the Dragon Bonus, Dragon 7, Panda 8, Super 6 and several pair bets. This guide explains what each one is, what it pays, how often it wins and what it costs, and how no-commission and EZ Baccarat tables change the Banker bet. All figures are for an eight-deck shoe and come from an exact count of every possible round.

Every baccarat bet at a glance

The Dragon Bonus chance includes the natural ties that return your stake. Ties return Player and Banker bets.

What is a Dragon in baccarat?

Two different side bets use the name, and players also use the word on the scoreboard:

• Dragon Bonus: a bet on Player or Banker winning by a margin. The bigger the margin, the bigger the payout, up to 30:1.
• Dragon 7: a side bet from EZ Baccarat that pays 40:1 when the Banker wins with a total of 7 made from three cards.
• A “dragon” on the scoreboard is a long run of the same result, such as eight Banker wins in a row: six marks down one column of the Big Road and the rest along the bottom row, the “dragon’s tail”. Our guide to the baccarat scoreboard explains how the roads are drawn. It is a description of what has happened, not a bet; every round is dealt independently, and a run does not change the odds of the next one.

Dragon Bonus

You bet on Player or Banker, separately from the main bet. You are paid on how much your side wins by:

A win by 1, 2 or 3 points, which is how most non-natural hands are won, still loses the Dragon Bonus. The two sides are priced very differently: the Banker hand wins more often overall, but it wins by 7, 8 or 9 points less often than the Player does, so the same pay table costs 9.37% on Banker and only 2.65% on Player. That makes the Dragon Bonus on Player the cheapest side bet on this page.

EZ Baccarat: Dragon 7 and Panda 8

EZ Baccarat removes the 5% commission in a different way: instead of paying a Banker 6 at half, it returns the Banker bet when Banker wins with a three-card 7. That leaves the Banker bet at 1.02%, the lowest edge of any bet in this guide. Two side bets go with it:

• Dragon 7 wins when the Banker wins with a three-card total of 7. It happens about once in 44 rounds (2.25%) and pays 40:1, a house edge of 7.61%. Some tables call a 37:1 version the Phoenix, which costs 14.37%.
• Panda 8 wins when the Player wins with a three-card total of 8. It happens about once in 29 rounds (3.45%) and pays 25:1, a house edge of 10.19%.

Exactly the round that pushes the Banker bet is the one that pays the Dragon 7, which is why the two are sold together.

No commission baccarat and Super 6

On a no commission table the Banker bet pays 1:1 with no 5% charge, except when Banker wins with a total of 6: then it pays only half (1:2). That happens on 5.39% of rounds, about 1 in 19, and puts the Banker bet at 1.46% instead of 1.06%. Ties still return the stake. Over many rounds the 5% table is the cheaper of the two; the no-commission table is simpler to settle.

The Super 6 side bet wins on that same event, a Banker win with 6. At 15:1, the payout on Evolution’s No Commission Baccarat, the house edge is 13.82%. Some tables pay 12:1, which costs 29.98%.

Pair bets

• Player Pair / Banker Pair win when the first two cards of that hand are the same rank, such as two 7s or two kings. With eight decks the second card matches the first 31 times in 415 (7.47%, about 1 in 13.4). At the usual 11:1 the house edge is 10.36%.
• Either Pair wins when the Player or the Banker starts with a pair: 14.38% of rounds. At 5:1 it costs 13.71%.
• Perfect Pair wins when either hand starts with a pair of the same rank and suit: 3.35%. At 25:1 it costs 13.03%. Some tables pay more when both hands start with a suited pair, so check the payout table.

Tie: 8:1 or 9:1

A tie comes up on 9.52% of rounds. Paid at 8:1, the usual rate, the bet costs 14.36%, the most of any bet in this guide. Some tables pay 9:1, which cuts the edge to 4.84%. That one point of payout is the biggest price difference on a baccarat table.

Baccarat side bets online

Live dealer tables show the payout for every side bet in the game’s rules or help screen, and those payouts can differ from the tables above. Look for the pay table, the number of decks and the rule for a Banker 6 before your first hand. 22bet‘s live casino lists EZ Baccarat and Baccarat Super 6 from Ezugi and No Commission Baccarat from both Evolution and Ezugi, next to its standard and speed baccarat tables. For the main game, see our baccarat rules guide; for what the main bets cost and how betting systems behave, see every baccarat bet, priced.

Play responsibly

Baccarat is for players aged 18 and over. Side bets pay more because they win less often, and every one of them costs more than the main bets. Set a budget before you play and stop when it is spent.