Macau’s casino regulator has approved the introduction of a new betting option for the casino game of baccarat as it is offered in the local market. The announcement was published in the city’s Official Gazette earlier this week.
The new side bet – known as ‘Lucky Six’ – is already found in casinos in Asia, including in Singapore, according to industry commentators. Las Vegas Sands Corp, the parent company of Sands China Ltd, offers the product in its United States operations.
‘Lucky Six’ pays out on any winning ‘banker’ hand with a face value of six. It pays 20 to 1 if the winning ‘banker’ hand with a face value of six is composed of three cards, and 12 to 1 for a two-card winning hand, according to the rules published by the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, also known by its Portuguese acronym DICJ.
“The reason for revising the baccarat rules is to add a new betting option for the game type, so that there will be more variety in the ways of betting for the patrons,” a spokesperson from the casino regulator told GGRAsia.
The regulator is the entity ordinarily responsible for approving the introduction to the market of new betting options and games at the request of casino operators. In the reply to GGRAsia, the spokesperson did not clarify whether the rule amendment had arisen from a request originating within the local industry.
Casino operators are free to decide whether to offer the Lucky 6 betting option on top of their existing baccarat offering, the spokesperson stated.
Baccarat is the most popular game in Macau. It accounted for 88.4 percent – or nearly MOP234.96 billion (US$29.07 billion) – of the city’s casino gross gaming revenue last year. That included high-stakes baccarat, which produced GGR of MOP150.67 billion in 2017.
Other baccarat betting options available in Macau include ‘Dragon Seven’, ‘Par Bet’ and three variants of progressive jackpots.
