Advantage of Innovations in Online Casinos

Baccarat is one of the more boring games at online casinos. The players have to choose from a limited number of bets, and having placed the wager all the moves are made by the software and the player is a mute spectator. The only advantage that it offers, and it is a significant advantage, is that it has a low house edge compared to many other online casino games.

Online casino baccarat based on the random number generator is always played in the standard format. However, online casinos that offer live dealer baccarat have introduced some interesting innovations that add interest and excitement to the game. One such baccarat variant is known as Dragon Bonus Baccarat. The "Bonus" refers to a bonus bet that can be placed by the player in this game. The "Dragon" probably refers to the large payouts on some of the outcomes.

The standard baccarat game is played as usual. In addition players can wager an optional bonus bet on 'Player' or 'Banker'. The bonus bet pays out in two conditions. The first condition is that the hand bet on is a natural winner. The second condition is that the hand bet on is a non-natural hand and it wins by four or more points. In this case the larger the margin of the win the greater is the payout. The complete payout list is given below.

• Non-natural hand win by 9 Points   30:1
• Non-natural hand win by 8 Points   10:1
• Non-natural hand win by 7 Points     6:1
• Non-natural hand win by 6 Points     4:1
• Non-natural hand win by 5 Points     2:1
• Non-natural hand win by 4 Points     1:1
• Natural hand Winner                         1:1
• Natural hand Tie                             Push

There are two important rules that players must keep in mind when playing Dragon Bonus Baccarat. The first rule is that players cannot place the bonus bet unless and until they play the main game. However they can play the main game without wagering on the bonus game. The second rule is that the Dragon Bonus bet must correspond to the bet in the main game. If the player wagers on the 'Banker' in the main game then he has to wager on the 'Banker' in the bonus game, if he wants to play the bonus game. He cannot wager on the 'Banker' in the main game and on the 'Player' in the Dragon Bonus bet. This adds an interesting twist to the game.

In the normal baccarat game played with 8 decks the 'Banker' bet as a house edge of 1.06%, and the 'Player' bet as a house edge of 1.24%. Hence the preferred bet is the 'Banker' bet despite the 5% commission charged by the online casino on this bet. However in the Dragon bonus bet the 'Player' has a house edge of 2.65%, whereas the 'Banker' has a house edge of 9.37%. Therefore if the player is placing the Dragon bonus bet the preferred choice has to be the 'Player' because what is lost in the main game is recovered many times over in the bonus game. The Dragon bonus bet increases the overall house edge, but this is an expected price to be paid for having a shot at a 30 to 1 payout. In any event the increased house edge is on par with European roulette and much better than online slots games.

Dragon Bonus Baccarat can be played at Microgaming online casinos like Platinum Play Casino and 32 Red Casino.

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