Most baccarat bets ask one question: who wins? Exact Total Baccarat asks a harder one: who wins, and with what total? Next to the usual Player, Banker and Tie spots there’s a board of 28 bets: Player wins on 1 through Player wins on 9, Banker wins on 1 through 9, and Tie on 0 through Tie on 9. Hit the exact result and the payout runs from 5 to 1 up to 150 to 1. A row of side bets on the colour and pairs of each hand’s first two cards completes the layout. Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands deals this as Sands Super Baccarat.
How to play
Main bets. Player pays 1 to 1. Banker pays 1 to 1 with no commission, except that a Banker win with a total of 6 pays half. Tie pays 8 to 1. If the hands tie, Player and Banker bets come back.
Winning-total bets. Each cell on the board is one exact result:
| Total | Player wins on | Banker wins on | Tie on |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 100 to 1 | ||
| 1 | 150 to 1 | 150 to 1 | 150 to 1 |
| 2 | 80 to 1 | 80 to 1 | 150 to 1 |
| 3 | 50 to 1 | 50 to 1 | 150 to 1 |
| 4 | 50 to 1 | 25 to 1 | 100 to 1 |
| 5 | 30 to 1 | 15 to 1 | 80 to 1 |
| 6 | 11 to 1 | 11 to 1 | 35 to 1 |
| 7 | 8 to 1 | 8 to 1 | 35 to 1 |
| 8 | 6 to 1 | 6 to 1 | 50 to 1 |
| 9 | 5 to 1 | 5 to 1 | 50 to 1 |
“Player wins on 7” pays only when Player wins and Player’s final total is 7. A tie at 7 doesn’t count for it; that’s “Tie on 7”. Nobody can win with 0, so the Player and Banker rows start at 1. You can cover as many cells as you like in one round.
Side bets. The row under the main spots holds seven more bets:
- Player Red / Player Black and Banker Red / Banker Black pay 2 to 1 when that hand’s first two cards are both red (♥ ♦) or both black (♠ ♣). A third card doesn’t matter.
- Player Precious Pair / Banker Precious Pair look at that hand’s first two cards. Two 4♦ pay 30 to 1, any other pair of 4s 15 to 1, any other pair of diamonds (say Q♦ Q♦) 12 to 1, and any other pair 9 to 1. Only the highest line pays. A pair means the same rank: K-K counts, K-Q doesn’t.
- Any Six pays 6 to 1 when the round ends on a 6: Player wins with 6, Banker wins with 6, or the hands tie at 6.
Chips come in 10, 50, 100 and 500. Every spot takes up to 1,000 credits, in steps of 10.
The cards. Aces count 1, 2 to 9 count their pips, and tens and picture cards count 0. Only the last digit of a total matters. Two cards each go to Player and Banker. A total of 8 or 9 is a natural and nobody draws. Otherwise Player draws on 0 to 5, and Banker draws by the standard third-card table. The higher total wins.
What each bet costs
House edge, counted exactly over every possible deal from an eight-deck shoe:
| Bet | House edge |
|---|---|
| Player | 1.24% |
| Banker (half pay on 6) | 1.46% |
| Any Six | 5.04% |
| Player wins on 4 | 12.08% |
| Tie | 14.36% |
| Banker wins on 4 | 15.03% |
| Player wins on 8 | 22.16% |
| Player wins on 5 | 23.82% |
| other Player / Banker totals | 24.9% to 35.8% |
| Precious Pair | 20.20% |
| Red / Black | 25.18% |
| Tie on any number | 26.7% to 44.0% |
The cheapest side bet is Any Six, at 5.04%. The cheapest total bet by far is Player wins on 4, at 12.08%. The most expensive are Tie on 8 (44.01%) and Tie on 9 (43.73%). Every exact-total edge appears on the game’s return table on this site.
Strategy
The board is a long-shot menu. Even the best cell costs about ten times what Player or Banker does. Treat a few small bets on the board as the fun part of the round, and keep the main stake on Player or Banker.
Not all long shots are equal. “Player wins on 4” at 50 to 1 is much better value than “Banker wins on 4” at 25 to 1. Banker wins with 4 more often, but not twice as often. Among the ties, “Tie on 7” and “Tie on 4” are the least bad, and the natural ties (8 and 9) are the worst.
The colour bets look better than they are. Both cards come up red (or both black) about one round in four, and 2 to 1 pays like one in three. That gap is a 25% edge, the worst on the side row.
Covering many cells doesn’t help. Each cell keeps its own edge. Spreading chips across the whole Player row is just a more expensive Player bet.
If you enjoy Exact Total Baccarat, try Face Up 21 or Face Up Pai Gow next.
