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Tiger No Commission Baccarat
Introduction
Tiger No Commission Baccarat is a commission-free baccarat variant that pays 1 to 2 on a winning banker total of six. The game can be found at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. What sets it apart is that it adds five new side bets, all of them high house edge sucker bets. This page explains all the rules and breaks down the odds of the new bets the game brings to baccarat.
Rules
As usual for baccarat games, I capitalize the names of bets, including Player and Banker, and use lower case for the people playing the game, to avoid confusion.
- Tiger No Commission Baccarat follows the standard drawing rules as in conventional baccarat, which I will assume the reader is already familiar with.
- The "Nepal variant" of Commission-Free Baccarat is followed on winning Banker bets, in which wins pay 1 to 1, except a winning total of six pays 1 to 2.
- As in conventional baccarat, the Player bet pays 1 to 1 and the Tie bet pays 8 to 1.
- The following side bets are added:
- Tiger Pair — This bet shall win if the Player and or Banker hand form for a pair in the initial two cards, according to the pay table below.
- Tiger — This bet shall win if the Banker hand has a winning total of six, according to the pay table below.
- Small Tiger — Pays 22 to 1 only if the Banker has a winning two-card total of six.
- Big Tiger — Pays 50 to 1 only if the Banker has a winning three-card total of six.
- Tiger Tie — Pays 35 to 1 only if the hand ends in a 6-6 tie.
Following is the pay table for the Tiger Pair bet. Wins are on a "to one" basis.
Tiger Pair Pay Table
| Event | Pays |
|---|---|
| Twin Tiger Pair | 100 |
| Double Tiger pair | 20 |
| Single Tiger Pair | 4 |
Terminology for the Tiger Pair bet
- Twin Tiger Pair — Player and Banker have the same pair in rank. For example, both have a pair of queens.
- Double Tiger Pair — Both Player and Banker hands form pairs, except for a Twin Tiger.
- Single Tiger Pair — The Player or Banker hand form a pair, but not both.
Following is the pay table for the Tiger bet. Wins are on a "to one" basis.
Tiger Pay Table
| Event | Pays |
|---|---|
| Banker has three-card winning total of six | 20 |
| Banker has two-card winning total of six | 12 |
Analysis
I won't bother to post my analysis of the Banker, Player, and Tie bets, as those can be found under the Nepal variant in my page on Commission-Free Baccarat.
The following table shows my analysis of the Tiger Pair side bet, based on eight decks. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 16.12%.
Tiger Pair Return Table
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twin Tiger Pair | 100 | 2,804,880 | 0.000380 | 0.038009 |
| Double Tiger Pair | 20 | 38,378,496 | 0.005201 | 0.104013 |
| Single Tiger Pair | 4 | 1,020,125,184 | 0.138236 | 0.552945 |
| No pair | -1 | 6,318,274,560 | 0.856183 | -0.856183 |
| Total | 0 | 7,379,583,120 | 1.000000 | -0.161217 |
The following table shows my analysis of the Small Tiger side bet, where wins pay 22 to 1, based on eight decks. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 14.33%.
Small Tiger Return Table
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banker win with two-card total of six | 22 | 186,173,936,904,192 | 0.037247 | 0.819428 |
| All other outcomes | -1 | 4,812,224,338,599,170 | 0.962753 | -0.962753 |
| Total | 4,998,398,275,503,360 | 1.000000 | -0.143325 |
The following table shows my analysis of the Small Tiger side bet, where wins pay 22 to 1, based on eight decks. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 14.33%.
After publishing this page, "MDawg" of the Wizard of Vegas forum noted the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas pays only 20 to 1 on the Small Tiger. As the following return table shows, this increases the house edge to 21.78%.
Small Tiger Return Table — Stingy Version
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 20 | 186,173,936,904,192 | 0.037247 | 0.744934 |
| Loss | -1 | 4,812,224,338,599,170 | 0.962753 | -0.962753 |
| Total | 4,998,398,275,503,360 | 1.000000 | -0.217819 |
Later, in January 2024, I had an unconfirmed report that the Crown casino in Sydney, Australia, pays 23 to 1 on the Small Tiger. This would result in a house edge of 10.61%.
The following table shows my analysis of the Big Tiger side bet, based on eight decks. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 15.25%.
Big Tiger Return Table
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banker win with three-card total of six | 50 | 83,058,367,551,488 | 0.016617 | 0.830850 |
| All other outcomes | -1 | 4,915,339,907,951,870 | 0.983383 | -0.983383 |
| Total | 4,998,398,275,503,360 | 1.000000 | -0.152533 |
The following table shows my analysis of the Tiger side bet, based on eight decks. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 16.68%.
Tiger Return Table
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banker win with three-card total of six | 20 | 83,058,367,551,488 | 0.016617 | 0.332340 |
| Banker win with two-card total of six | 12 | 186,173,936,904,192 | 0.037247 | 0.446961 |
| All other outcomes | -1 | 4,729,165,971,047,680 | 0.946136 | -0.946136 |
| Total | 4,998,398,275,503,360 | 1.000000 | -0.166836 |
The following table shows my analysis of the Tiger Tie side bet, based on eight decks. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 30.74% (ouch!).
Tiger Tie Return Table
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6-6 tie | 35 | 96,170,001,308,416 | 0.019240 | 0.673406 |
| All other outcomes | -1 | 4,902,228,274,194,940 | 0.980760 | -0.980760 |
| Total | 4,998,398,275,503,360 | 1.000000 | -0.307354 |
External Links
- Tiger No Commission Baccarat Game Rules from the Singapore Gaming Regulatory Agency
- Discussion about Tiger No Commission Baccarat in my forum at Wizard of Vegas.