A Panda is a side bet in EZ Baccarat.
EZ Baccarat is an increasingly popular casino game with rules similar to those of conventional baccarat. You can bet on the banker, the player, or the tie. The third card draw rules for both the banker hand and the player hand are basically the same as in the traditional baccarat game.
The number of decks used in ez baccarat is also the standard 8.
The biggest exception is that the casino doesn’t take the usual 5% house commission in ez baccarat. As with other casino games like blackjack, ez baccarat features a set of optional side bets that promise players huge payouts for riskier propositions. The Panda 8 Bet is one such side game, alongside the Dragon 7 Bet.
What is Panda 8 in baccarat?
Panda 8 is a side bet specific to EZ Baccarat. The other popular side game in this baccarat game is the Panda 7. The major difference is the hand on which you choose to bet.
Panda 8 is a side bet option in ez baccarat that pays when the player hand wins with a point total of eight from three cards. It pays a whopping 25 to 1 for a winning three-card player hand of 8. The side game allowing ez baccarat players to wager on the banker hand winning with a 3-card total of 7 is justifiably known as Dragon 7 and pays 30 to 1.
What is Panda and Dragon in baccarat?
Panda (formally known as Panda 8) is an EZ Baccarat side bet which pays 25 to 1 for a winning 3-card player hand of eight. Related to Panda 8, the Dragon (or Dragon 7) is what the name suggests – a side game in which you get paid 40 to 1 when the banker hand wins with a point total of 7 consisting of three cards.
How Does the Panda 8 Side Bet Work?
Panda 8 is one of the two side bets available in EZ Baccarat, a baccarat variant that has no house commission on winning banker bets.
You can learn more about this type of baccarat and the side bet through Google search, as well as resources giving the game’s summary and statistics.
As you can expect, Panda 8 is an extremely specific side bet. You can only win this side wager if the player hand wins with a point total of 8 across three cards. Of course, the player’s hand can achieve a total of 8 points in a number of fashions, including:
- 5-3 = 8
- 4-4 = 8
- 6-10-2 = 18, drop first digit = 8
- 10-5-3, drop the first digit for the value of 8
Even so, your probability of landing a Panda 8 win is merely 3.5 percent. Casinos try to make up for these low winning odds by paying at 25 to 1. But you won’t be seeing this big payout frequently because a three-card player bet win of 8 points comes only seven times every 200 hands. In fact, the house edge of Panda 8 bets is around 10.2%.
How Does the Dragon Bonus Bet Work?
The Dragon Bonus is not a specific side bet like Dragon 7 in ez baccarat. You can place a dragon bonus bet on either the player or the banker bet winning by at least four points. The final payout will be calculated based on the margin of victory of the chosen side, as shown below:
- A natural win on the first two cards – Pays 1 to 1
- A natural tie of 8/8 or 9/9 on the first two cards – The side bet will neither lose nor win (push)
- Win by 4 – Pays 1 to 1
- Win by 5 – Pays 2 to 1
- Win by 6 – Pays 4 to 1
- Win by 7 – Pays 6 to 1
- Win by 8 – Pays 10 to 1
- Win by 9 – Pays 30 to 1
All other possible outcomes result in a loss, including a chosen hand’s win by three points or less. The return to player percentage and odds of both dragon bonus sides bet on the player and the banker are different. The house edge for a banker dragon bonus bet is 9.37%, while siding with the player hand has an average house advantage of 2.65%.
Panda 8 vs. Dragon 7 vs. Dragon Bonus: Which baccarat side bet is the best?
The three side bets offer players big payouts if they win. You can win 25 to 1 on a winning Panda 8 bet. Meanwhile, the best dragon bonus bet pays 30 to 1, while players can earn 40 to 1 on a successful Dragon 7 wager.
But the big question is: which is the most profitable in the long run? Which offers the best winning odds? The direct answer is the player dragon bonus bet is the best of the bunch.
Here is a look at the return to player percentages (RTP) for each side bet to help you understand:
- Panda 8 bet – RTP = 89.8% (average house edge is 10.2%)
- Banker Dragon Bonus bet – RTP = 90.63%
- Player Dragon Bonus bet – RTP = 97.36%
- Dragon 7 bet – RTP = 92.39%
As you can see, placing a dragon bonus bet on the player side is the safest choice. It is the superior side bet in baccarat and other table games. European Roulette, for instance, has an RTP of 97.30%. Dragon Bonus player bet tops this and yet still pays a whopping 30 to 1.
How much does the dragon bet pay on baccarat?
Dragon Bonus bets on a baccarat table pay at different rates, depending on the margin of victory of the selected side. A natural win on either the player or banker’s hand pays even money. Meanwhile, a chosen hand that wins by nine points pays 30 to 1.
If we are talking dragon 7 bets in ez baccarat, landing a banker win of 7 consisting of three cards pays 40 to 1.
What are the odds of hitting a dragon in baccarat?
The odds of hitting a dragon bet win in baccarat depends on the type of side game and the baccarat variant. For instance, in ez baccarat, dragon 7 side bets have a house edge of 7.61%. On the other hand, the house advantage of the banker dragon bonus is 9.37%.
Is card counting possible for Dragon 7 bets in baccarat?
Yes. Because all EZ Baccarat games employ shoes of eight decks, card counting is much simplified because you don’t have to memorize many things or do anything extra other than understanding the card values. Furthermore, remembering the card values for the Dragon 7 is substantially easier than it is for the basic card counting system.
To provide you with some tangible statistics, making this bet with a true count of 4 or higher will result in a house edge of little more than 8% on average. This will occur in less than 10% of all hands.
Can I count cards for Panda 8 in EZ Baccarat?
In terms of how the side bet works, the Panda 8 works in a similar way to the Dragon 7. If the player in this game wins with a total of eight made up of three cards, the Panda 8 side bet pays 25:1.
The house edge on this bet is normally around 10.2 percent, which is rather significant. However, similar to the approach outlined above, we will only place the bet if we are confident that it would result in a net profit on average.