There isn’t a game in the casino that consistently offers better odds than baccarat. Retail and online baccarat have one of the lowest house advantages of any casino game, making it a favorite amongst high-stakes gamblers all around the world.
The attractive odds are what drives players to the game, but even the biggest fans of baccarat have to admit that the game can get a little boring at times. In fact, some long-time baccarat players feel that this card game can get a little monotonous at times. But that is where the baccarat dragon bonus side bet comes into play.
Let’s take a closer look at what the dragon bonus baccarat bet is, a few strategies on how to play it, and some tips on how to win money using this side bet at your favorite land-based or online casino.
What Is The Dragon Bonus In Baccarat?
Before we get too deep into answering this question, we first have to spend a little bit of time talking about how baccarat is played, as the baccarat dragon bonus bet is tied very closely to the standard gameplay.
If you have never played baccarat before, and don’t even know what the baccarat table layout looks like, it would be tough to follow along with how this side bet works.
How Is Baccarat Played?
When you are playing baccarat, you are betting on which hand (either the player or the banker) will get closest to 9. At the start of each hand, the dealer will deal 2 cards face down to both the player and the banker. There are a set of pre-established drawing rules for both hands, based on the exact values of each hands.
As we already talked about, the gambler has no role in this process. All they can do is watch and see how the cards play out. For counting purposes, all cards play at their face value, with 10s and face cards counting as zero. If the number ends up at 10 or above, it is only counted as the second digit, making 9 the highest value that can be scored. Let’s look at an example of that below.
If the player hand is dealt a 3 and a 4, they have a total of 7. If the banker’s hand is dealt a 7 and an 8, which adds up to 15, their hand is scored a 5, as the 1 drops off. In this scenario, the player hand would win 7 to 5, as it is closest to 9 without going over.
While there is a fairly complicated rule set when it comes to the draws, that’s not really important, as the dealer will handle all draws. The part that you need to understand, in order to play the baccarat dragon bonus bet, is how the numbers add up and how they are compared to each other to declare a winner.
What Is The Dragon Bonus In Baccarat?
Now that you know the basics of baccarat, we can go ahead and jump into what the dragon bonus in baccarat really is all about.
The dragon bonus side bet is a popular baccarat side bet where you are wagering on the gap between the player and the banker hands after all draws are taken.
In the above example, where the player won the hand 7 to 5 over the banker, that gap would be 2 points (7-5=2). Had you bet on the player hand to win with the dragon bonus bet, you would receive a payout of even money for a natural 2-point winner.
The bigger the gap between the hands, the bigger the payout that you win!
Baccarat Dragon Bonus Bet Payouts
Let’s take a quick look at the baccarat dragon bonus side bet payouts:
| Outcome | Player | Banker |
| Win By 9 Points | 30-1 | 30-1 |
| Win By 8 Points | 10-1 | 10-1 |
| Win By 7 Points | 6-1 | 6-1 |
| Win By 6 Points | 4-1 | 4-1 |
| Win By 5 Points | 2-1 | 2-1 |
| Win By 4 Points | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Natural Winner | 1-1 | 1-1 |
| Natural Tie | Push | Push |
As you can see from the payouts listed above, the biggest payouts are going to come when you have the biggest gap between the hands. In order to win this bet, you have to have a gap of at least 4 points after the draw. The biggest payout on the board is a 9-0 hand, which pays out a juicy 30-1!
For those of you out there that may be getting a little confused about what a natural tie or winner is, don’t be, as it is very simple.
In baccarat, a natural hand is when you don’t have any draws to make a hand. For example, if the player hand is dealt a 9 and a face card, that would be a natural 9, the best hand in the game.
The baccarat dragon bonus bet does value these natural hands a lot more than the draw hands, as you push on any natural tie and you win an even money payout for any natural winner, even if it comes by just a single point. Now that you know what the dragon bonus bet is, let’s talk strategy!
Baccarat Dragon Bonus Strategy
In reality, just like baccarat, there are only a few baccarat strategies when it comes to the dragon bonus bet. There isn’t any way that you can influence the outcome of the wager. All you can really do is make your bet and hope for the best.
And while some traditional retail or online casino game players may not like that dynamic, real money slots players have been used to it for years, so it’s not really a big deal and you will catch on quickly.
When making the baccarat dragon bonus bet, you do have to choose which hand you are taking to win, similarly to your main baccarat bet. This is where the strategy does come into play, as you can choose to bet with, or against, your main baccarat bet.
There are a couple of schools of thought on this, as you can bet alongside your normal bet as a way of doubling down and winning more when you win. Or you can bet the other way, which ends up working as a hedge to your main bet. That way, if you lose your main bet, but the gap is a big one, you could still make money on the hand, or at least lose less money, depending on the size of your bets.
Personally, I prefer staying on the same side of my main bet, as I’m not really a gambler that likes to hedge. I am either going to hit it big and win everything, or I am going to lose it all.
I didn’t go to a casino to lose a little bit or break even, I came to win! If you are like me, then keep all of your bets on the same hand, so when that lucky hand does come along, you get to take full advantage of it!
Play Baccarat Online
Now that you know what the baccarat dragon bonus bet is, and the best baccarat dragon bonus strategy to play, you are ready to take a seat at the table and start winning!
We love Wild Casino as the best online casino to play baccarat at. Currently, this online gambling site offers four different baccarat options. Additionally, there are four live dealer baccarat tables to play at if you prefer the live gaming experience.
Wild Casino is also giving away some incredible casino bonuses including up to $5,000 for first time players, up to 200% matching bonus for referring fellow baccarat players, and some juicy promotions for using crypto as the preferred banking method.
