Playtech’s Progressive Baccarat

The concept of an increasing prize fund tends to be associated with playing the slots, so it may come as a pleasant surprise to baccarat enthusiasts to discover that this option is available in the live dealer versions as well. For this, we must turn to one of Playtech’s titles – to Progressive Baccarat, to be precise.

This game follows the standard rules and style of play, so there isn’t anything new to grasp. The only significant difference is in the types of side bets that can be staked. There is an additional wager that can be placed, and this enables you to participate in the chance to win the big jackpot. This is, naturally, a tempting prospect, especially when the amount of money on offer is taken into consideration!

About Progressive Baccarat

On the face of it, Progressive Baccarat follows the typical format of other live games of Playtech. Each table seats up to 7 players. You are able to choose your own seat, and you can change this during the game if you wish. A timer is displayed on the top right-hand corner of the screen to show when the betting window is open.

The game is played with 8 decks of 52 cards, and the standard points totals are applied during the rounds. Aces are valued as 1, numbers 2-9 hold the value of their pips, and tens and face cards are counted as zero. The third card rules are applied in the usual way, depending on the totals of each of the hands. The game continues until the cut card is drawn. Then the shoe is replaced for the next round.

Gameplay

In terms of layout, this game has all the relevant information displayed on the screen. The progressive jackpot amount is center-stage, wrapped in gold, and the table on the left-hand side shows the paytable for the big win. This box also displays the limits and the stats, and so you can track your own progress through the rounds here. At the bottom of the screen, there are several other options. If you want to have digital versions of the cards shown during play, just click on the card symbol. You can click on the side bet options for online baccarat from here too.

In addition, you will be able to change the screen appearance by clicking on the camera symbol. This minimizes the dealer window and swaps both the information box and the jackpot total to opposite positions. The betting table becomes larger, and the various roads that run along the bottom of the screen increase in size slightly too.

You can change the screen appearance during Progressive Baccarat

The Main Bets and Payouts in Progressive Baccarat

In Progressive Baccarat, the main betting options are the same as usual. You have the choice of wagering on either the player or the banker hands, or on a tie. A win for the player’s hand pays out at 1:1, and the return to player rate is 98.76%. A 5% commission is applied to the banker’s hand, and so this pays out at 1:0.95. The RTP rate for this is 98.94%. A tie is paid out at 8:1, with an RTP of 85.20%. If a tie occurs without any bets being wagered on it, the round is considered a push. In this event, all other bets are returned to you.

Placing a Side Bet for the Progressive Jackpot

In this version of baccarat, the progressive jackpot has a completely separate prize fund, and like all the side bets in baccarat, it is an optional extra. In order to participate in it, you will need to have placed a stake on one of the main bets or an alternate side one. Any bets for the jackpot are added by clicking on the golden slot, which is located next to the prize amount. The minimum and maximum betting levels are shown here too.

The blinking light next to the total will turn green when a wager has been made. Once the bet has been acknowledged, its cost will be shown above the slot button. This allows you to keep track of how much you have paid in, which is relevant when it comes to the payouts.

How Does the Side Bet for the Jackpot Actually Work?

The progressive jackpot is composed of two separate parts – the seed and the pot. The prize fund begins with the seed. This is an amount that the casino guarantees will be paid out, and it is proportionate. Currently, this figure is set at 10,000 times the bet that you have placed on the jackpot. In addition to this, a 7% proportion of every wager that is made is added to the jackpot fund. This is the pot, and it continues to increase whenever a new bet is placed. The total amount that can be won is shown onscreen, and this changes to the maximum sum that you are eligible to win at the start of every round.

The Various Payouts for the Progressive Jackpot

In Progressive Baccarat, the big jackpot is awarded when an 8 and an ace of the same suit are dealt to both hands. For example, both the player and the banker are dealt an ace and an eight of hearts. There are several other winning combinations that form part of the jackpot prize, and these are paid out as multipliers of the original bet.

The largest of these prizes is if both hands have an ace and an eight in the same suit. For instance, the banker hand has hearts, and the player hand has clubs. This pays out at 10,000x your wager. There are payouts for ties as well, which are based on only 4 cards being dealt.

Other Side Bets and the Different Payouts

There are some other optional side bets that can be made in Progressive Baccarat. The player or the banker pair is a wager on both cards for those hands being a match. This has odds of 11:1, and the return to player rate is set at 89.64%. You can also wager on either of the hands drawing a pair. The odds for this are 5:1, and the RTP rate is 86.29%. The last of these types of wagers is for a perfect pair. This is when both the player and the banker have a match, and the odds for this scenario are 25:1. This has a return to player rate of 86.97%.

There are two other kinds of additional wagers that can be staked. The Big side bet pays out if the total number of cards between the player and the banker are either 5 or 6. This has odds of 0.54:1, and an RTP rate of 95.65%. The small side bet is for when the total number of cards in both hands is 4. The odds for this are 1.5:1, and the RTP rate is 94.71%.

The Egalite Extra Side Bets and Payouts

The Egalite Extra is an additional type of side bet that is based around the player and the banker hands both totaling the same. This option isn’t always available in all the online casinos, but when it is, it provides players with another array of betting possibilities. The payout odds for this are as follows:

Keeping Score on the Big Road and Bead Road

The scorecards for Progressive Baccarat are shown along the bottom of the screen and these keep track of the results of the various rounds. The Big Road uses outlined circles and a new column is started every time there is a change of winner. A red circle means that the banker hand won, and the blue circle shows that the round went to the player. A green line through the circle indicates that the round ended on a tie.

The Bead Road displays the scores as a sequence, with the totals in solid circles. The colors are the same – red for the banker, and blue for the player. In this chart, a green circle shows that there was a tie. If there is a red dot in the circle, it means that the banker had a pair, and a blue dot shows this for the player’s hand.

Looking for Patterns in the Derived Roads

The other three score cards are referred to as the derived, or the predictive roads. These use the results from the first two roads to look for patterns in the cards. They don’t record ties or pairs. Instead, they denote the changes in the wins, and many players use this data to devise a playing strategy. Each of the roads uses different symbols to display the patterns. The Big Eye Road uses outlined circles, the Small Road uses solid ones, and the Cockroach Road uses slashes.

In these roads, the colors don’t correspond to either the player or the banker, but merely represent any patterns that can be determined. Experienced players know that a road with lots of red symbols indicates a degree of symmetry, whilst blue illustrates that the cards are falling in a more erratic way.

Is There a Strategy for Winning the Jackpot?

Playtech’s Progressive Baccarat offers options for side wagers, as well as the chance to go for the additional jackpot prize. However, it’s important to know that this game doesn’t allow two jackpot wins in close succession. If this were to happen, the first player would be awarded the seed and the pot, but the second would only receive the seed amount.

Nonetheless, this game is still an appealing prospect. There isn’t any particular strategy that can be applied that will increase the chances of winning the jackpot, but you don’t have to meet any particular conditions in order to be eligible for the big prize fund. The only win requirement is that you have placed a jackpot bet for that round. For this reason alone, it’s worth giving it a try!