Tie Max (formerly Lucky Max)

Introduction

Tie Max, previously referred to as Lucky Max, constitutes a set of side bets in baccarat that is determined by the highest individual card in a tie scenario. I was first introduced to this concept in December 2015 during my visit to the Gold Coast in Las Vegas.

Rules

1. Standard baccarat I assume that the reader is acquainted with the established rules. For the purpose of this analysis, let’s work with eight decks of cards.
2. In the event of a tie, the payout is based on the card with the highest point value. For instance, if the Banker has a hand of K-7-2 while the Player holds 10-5-4, the highest point value among the six cards will be a 7.
3. The High Tie Max bet offers a payout of 10 to 1 when the top card in a tie is valued between 6 and 9. Any other outcomes result in a loss.
4. The Low Tie Max bet provides a generous payout of 55 to 1 if the highest card in a tie is between 0 and 5. All other results will lose.

Analysis

The subsequent tables illustrate the probabilities and contributions to returns for both types of bets. The bottom right sections indicate a house edge of 16.45% for the Low Tie bet and 11.75% for the High Tie bet.

Written by: Michael Shackleford