Live Prestige Baccarat
Live Prestige Baccarat is a type of table available from Playtech. It offers more side bets than virtually any other live dealer Baccarat option. However, it also has a tremendous Asian-inspired playing environment and a great squeeze played out by the dealers.
Casinos with Live Prestige Baccarat
An Introduction to Live Prestige Baccarat
In the live dealer casino market, different providers are always trying to outperform the others and offer something different. The Live Prestige Baccarat tables from Playtech are a good example of this. They went above and beyond to create a top-tier Baccarat experience for players with these tables.
And to this end, they succeeded in a major way. All you have to do is watch a round being played once to see why.
One reason is that the presentation is up there with the best of what the industry has to offer. You’ll be hard-pressed to find Baccarat options from other providers that beat them at this part of the game. The high-definition audio and video are standard practice in the modern era, but they’re worth noting regardless.
Another reason is that the gameplay focuses on quality instead of quantity. This is not a game based around speed and trying to cram as many hands in a session as possible. Instead, players will have a great squeeze paired with friendly dealers who commentate the play in a fun way. Additionally, a really wide range of side bets help to add a lot of variety to the action.
The Best Casinos for Live Prestige Baccarat
For finding the best sites to play these tables, you’ll need to seek out sites that use Playtech’s games. However, you’ll specifically need the casino to have their live dealer games. Keep an eye out on this point because some sites have their slots but nothing else.
It can also be very helpful to seek out casinos that have live dealer-specific promotions. These often offer a better deal than more regular bonuses and other deals. We like to see players get the most for their play as they can. That’s why we’ve reviewed so many sites that offer these games to show what’s really worth it and what’s not.
The Basic Game Procedure and Rules
The procedure for the Live Prestige Baccarat games is pretty standard and will be familiar to Baccarat fans. However, there are some small differences that are important to note. This is because they really help to form the overall feel and pace for the game.
Here’s what you can expect for a standard betting round:
An Example Hand
- The game will start in a period where bets are open. This lasts for a few moments to allow players to choose which wagers they want to make.
- Once betting is closed, the dealer will bring out the initial four cards. Two of these are for the banker hand, and two of these are for the player hand. If you don’t know what these are, we’ll explain more down below.
- The cards are turned over for the player hand, and a house rule is applied to see if a third card is added.
- Once the player cards are turned, the banker cards will be turned as well. However, the second banker card will apply what’s known as a squeeze. This is a bit of a tease to show parts of the card in a specific way. The idea is to build suspense about whether it beats the player hand or not. This bit of theater is a lot of fun for a lot of players, and it ties into the fun of trying to guess which of the two hands will win based on recent trends in the hand histories.
- After the first two banker cards are turned, a third may be added based on the house rule. We’ll show when a third card is added to either hand below.
- With all of the cards shown for each of the two hands, winners are determined for the main bets and side wagers. The process then starts over again as betting is opened.
In what follows, we’ll show the details of what all of these things mean and how they work.
The Player and Banker Hands
While this game may look like blackjack on the surface, it’s played completely differently. Two hands are always dealt no matter how many players are in the game. They are called the player and banker hands. However, you can wager on either of them to win. There are small differences in how they are dealt, but they have almost the exact same house edge.
The hand values are determined by adding up the cards in the respective hand. However, the 10s and face cards are always worth 0 (or 10, you’ll see why and it doesn’t change anything). The aces are also always worth one. With that said, your hand value is determined by the “ones” digit of the total. For example, if you have a total of 16, your score is actually 6. Likewise, a 9 is worth 9, and a 21 is worth 1.
Dealing a Third Card
If the starting total for the player or banker is 8 or 9, no third cards are dealt. The dealer peeks for this at the beginning of the round.
Otherwise, both hands have a chance to draw a third card. However, these chances are based on different pieces of information. For the player hand, for example, a third card is dealt if the total is five or less. On totals of six or seven, a third card is not dealt to the player.
From there, the rule for the banker’s third card is a little complicated. To start with, the banker will only get a third card if the player does. With that said, it also then depends on the banker’s starting score after two cards. The value of the player’s third card is also used in the decision.
Players don’t really need to know this for the game to proceed since it’s the dealer’s job to handle the cards. However, here’s a quick summary of how this decision is made:
- With totals of 7, no third card is ever dealt.
- When the total is 6, a third card is dealt if the player’s third was 6 or 7.
- When the total is 5, a third card is dealt if the player’s third was 4-7.
- If the banker starts with 4, a third card is dealt on player’s third cards of 2-7.
- Banker totals of 3 always mean a third card except if the player’s third card was an 8.
- Finally, a third card is always dealt with a banker total of 2 or lower.
Again, this isn’t information that players need to know to be able to play and enjoy the game.
Betting, Winnings and Payouts
There are essentially three types of wagers in this game. We’ll be breaking them up into traditional bets, side bets and a special side bet called the Egalite that needs its own discussion. You can mix things up between these three types of bets, or you can just stick to whatever you prefer.
Traditional Baccarat Wagers
Most of the action in Live Prestige Baccarat comes from the standard wager options. They’re pretty easy for new players to start with as well. Here’s a quick summary:
- Banker – A bet on a banker bet is the best wager in the game with a 1.1 percent house edge. It wins when the banker hand wins. However, it pays at 1:1 with a 5 percent commission, meaning it really pays 0.95:1. Note that winning wagers are rounded down, so you’ll want to play with a multiple of 20 with your betting increments to avoid issues with that.
- Player – When the player hand wins, you pick up a payout of 1:1 with no commission issues. However, the house edge is just slightly higher at 1.2 percent. This is the best bet in the game if you aren’t playing with a multiple of 20 with betting increments.
- Tie – If both hands end up with the exact same total, then that’s a tie. Both the player and banker bets lose, and the tie pays out at 8:1. This isn’t a particularly good bet with a 14.4 percent house advantage.
These three wagers are the “bread and butter” in terms of holding most wagers that are made. In general, most players will bounce between the banker and player hands in an effort to guess which of the two will come next as their primary mode of play.
Side Bets
On the bottom left side of the screen, you’ll have a few different side bets available. Here’s a quick overview of what’s available:
- Banker Pair – This pays at 11:1 and wins if the banker’s first two cards are of the same rank. The house edge is 11.3 percent.
- Player Pair – This is the same as the banker pair except for the player hand. The odds and payouts are the same.
- Either Pair – With this wager, you’ll win if either of the banker or player’s two starting cards are a match. The payout rate is 5:1, and the house edge is 14.5 percent.
- Perfect Pair – If either the banker or player is dealt a pair in the same suit, this bet wins. It has a house advantage of 17.1 percent based on at 25:1 payout. Typically, this is the worst bet available in Live Prestige Baccarat in terms of house edge.
- Small – This wins if only four total cards are dealt between the player and banker hands. The payout is 1.5:1 with a 5.3 house edge.
- Big – Players win with this wager if five or six total cards are dealt for the banker and player hands. The payout is 0.54:1 with a 4.4 percent house advantage.
This is a pretty solid selection of side bets that cover a variety of different things. It’s a good set of options if you want to mix things up a bit.
Egalite Bets
The Egalite bets are their own set of side bets on the right-hand side of the betting interface. We’re putting them apart from the others because of the nature of them and how many of them there are.
The basic idea of an Egalite bet is that you’re placing a long-shot wager on the game being a tie. However, you’re betting on what the score will be for each hand when it’s a tie. For example, and Egalite wager on 6 in Live Prestige Baccarat is a bet that the result with be a tie of 6 to 6 specifically. It will not win on other ties.
The payouts for these wagers vary quite a bit. Here’s what you’ll get in this game:
- Egalite 0 – 150:1
- Egalite 1 – 215:1
- Egalite 2 – 220:1
- Egalite 3 – 200:1
- Egalite 4 – 120:1
- Egalite 5 – 110:1
- Egalite 6 – 45:1
- Egalite 7 – 45:1
- Egalite 8 – 80:1
- Egalite 9 – 80:1
The house edges for these vary a bit, but they’re all in the range of about 10.5 to 12 percent.
How to Win at Live Prestige Baccarat
The best overall strategy here is to stick to the banker and player bets. They have the lowest house advantages out of all of the available wagers by far. If you do want to deviate a bit and get into the side bets, then the big and small options are the best ones to go for.
It’s worth noting that the card counting opportunities here are pretty minor overall. You can get a little bit of a dent in the house edge by card counting for the main wagers. However, it’s not enough to secure an advantage against the casino. Mostly, it’ll help you to keep up with whether the banker or player bet is the best option by small margins as the cards left in the shoe fluctuate a bit.
Overview
Playtech’s Live Prestige Baccarat tables offer some of the best experiences the industry has to offer. The presentation is top-notch and comparable to anything out there on the upper tier. With the gameplay, you get a smooth squeeze experience along with a variety of side bets. It’s really pretty much everything a Baccarat player could want while maintaining the commission-based structure of the banker bet.
FAQ
Which online casinos have Live Prestige Baccarat?
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