Countable Mines Games Baccarat Side Bets
While counting main baccarat bets like Player and Banker is not a profitable venture, many of the side wagers the game supports can potentially provide opportunities to generate decent profits through advantage play. Below, we explore several commonly available baccarat side bets and discuss the expected value of counting them.
THE SUPER 6 SIDE BET
1. The Super 6 Side Bet Overview
The Super 6 side wager is often available in baccarat variations that charge no commission on winning Banker hands. This side bet pays at higher odds of 15 to 1 whenever the Banker side wins the round with a final total of 6, hence the name Super 6.
2. House Edge and Hit Frequency
The house edge for this side wager in an eight-deck game is higher at 13.82%. The bet has a hit frequency of 5.39%. Several things are worth considering if you intend to count the Super 6 bet.
- The Banker cannot prevail over the Player if the round ends with a natural.
- A shoe depleted of 9s and 8s works to the advantage of counters looking to profit from the Super 6 side wager.
- An excess of 6s in the remaining shoe improves the odds of winning with the Super 6 bet.
- If neither side has a natural after the initial deal, the baccarat tableau requires the Player to draw a third card on starting totals of 5 or less. The Player must receive a third card when the Banker has a total of 6. A 7 could help the Player outdraw the Banker in this case, so a shoe depleted of 7s is good for those who count this side bet.
3. Counting System for the Super 6 Bet
Based on these observations, gambling expert and retired professor of mathematics Eliot Jacobson proposed a counting system for the Super 6 bet that assigns the following tag values to the cards.
- Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 10s are counted as -1
- 9s, 8s, and 7s are counted as +4
- 6s are counted as -8
- Aces, 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s counted as 0.
Professor Jacobson then ran a computer simulation that involved 100 million baccarat shoes with eight full decks each to test the efficiency of the system he devised. The simulated games gave very deep penetration as the cut card was inserted fourteen cards from the shoe’s end.
The results indicated that a player can win approximately 0.27 betting units per every hundred hands when using the above-described counting system. It may not sound particularly impressive but you should not underestimate the fact there is a significant house edge to overcome with the Super 6 side bet.
