MEGA BACCARAT LIVE

HOW TO PLAY MEGA BACCARAT

For the most part, Mega Baccarat works much like the classic Pragmatic Play table.

You use the chips to set your stake and decide what to bet on. You can wager on the Player, Banker, or Tie, as well as two Pairs side bets.

As always, the goal is to predict which of the two card piles (Player or Banker) will draw cards closer to 9. Each side receives two cards, with an optional third according to third card rules. If you want to know more about the basics of baccarat and relevant strategies, check out this post.

For now, we’ll just note that Mega Baccarat uses two standard decks. No commission is charged on Banker bets, but all wagers have to pay a 20% Mega Round fee, as explained below.

MEGA ROUND

So what makes Mega Baccarat different?

Mostly it’s the addition of the Mega Round. Every round, the dealer will use a shaker to roll two dice. If the dice show a total result of 8 or 9, the following round of baccarat is considered a Mega Round.

During Mega Rounds, all wagers in Mega Baccarat receive an additional multiplier on their payouts. If you made a successful bet during a Mega Round, you’ receive a multiplier on top of the standard payout.

Importantly, every betting position in the game has a different multiplier randomly assigned in every round. For instance, you could see a 2x multiplier on Player and a 5x multiplier on Banker in the same round. The catch is that you don’t know which bet will receive which multiplier before placing your bet – or even whether there will be a Mega Round at all.

SIDE BETS

On top of the multipliers and the main three baccarat bets, this game also offers two side betting options. To be frank, they’re pretty much the same bet, and it’s a fairly common one among live baccarat games. However, side bets in Mega Baccarat Live can also be affected by multipliers.

Anyway, the bets are called Player Pair and Banker Pair. As you might imagine, they win if the initial two cards drawn to the relevant pile have the same value.

The Pairs bets can have their winnings increased by up to 1,000 during a Mega Round.

Casino Bloke Best tips for Mega Baccarat Live

• 1The Player bet is the optimal option in any scenario due to its high RTP. That said, Banker is still a solid option
• 2Surprisingly enough, Tie is much better than with most other live baccarat games due to its high profit potential. It’s still the worst bet in the game, though.

PAYOUTS & RTP

The reason we love Mega Baccarat so much is that it introduces multipliers but maintains a high RTP rate. Check out the table below to find out the possible payouts and average RTP for every type of wager in the game.

As you can see, the optimal option is the Player bet at 98.79%. Overall, this is a minuscule difference from standard baccarat rules, making Mega Baccarat a decent choice in terms of long-term returns. In the short term, the game is considerably more volatile, which is all part of its charm.

OUR VERDICT

A competitor for smash hits like the Evolution-made Lightning Baccarat and Golden Wealth Baccarat was long overdue – and it seems Pragmatic Play is finally picking up the torch. From a perspective of sheer game design, Mega Baccarat is amazing.

For starters, Mega Baccarat delivers on its basic premise. It’s a relatively classic-looking live baccarat table with a sleek presentation and a great atmosphere. More importantly, it manages to introduce multipliers without sacrificing the core appeal of punto banco.

All in all, Mega Baccarat feels like the “baccarat plus” game it was always meant to be. It’s technically impressive while maintaining strong RTP and high maximum payouts. A great addition to the Pragmatic Play live gaming lobby, in our opinion.