Macau Approves Three New Baccarat Side Bets

Macau has approved three new baccarat side bets, giving casinos more add-on wager options as side bets keep spreading across the market. The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau added rules for ‘Monkey no Monkey’, ‘Pairs+’, and ‘4/5/6 Cards’ in a guideline effective from March 23.

Good to Know

• The three newly approved side bets are ‘Monkey no Monkey’, ‘Pairs+’, and ‘4/5/6 Cards’.
• The updated regulator guideline is marked effective from March 23.
• Macau has been rolling out more baccarat side bets since 2024, helped by smart table technology.

Macau Keeps Building Out Baccarat Side Bets

The highest payout in the new batch belongs to Pairs+, which can pay 300 to 1 if both the banker hand and player hand open with pairs carrying equal point values. ‘Monkey no Monkey’ pays 50 to 1 when the first four cards dealt across both hands are all face cards, while ‘4/5/6 Cards’ offers different returns depending on whether banker or player wins and how many total cards are used.

The bigger story is the direction of travel in Macau. Side bets have become a favored tool because they can lift house edge, and operators have been adding more of them in phases. ‘Small 6/Big 6’ was introduced market wide around the May 2024 Labour Day holiday, then ‘Lucky 7’ and ‘Super Lucky 7’ followed later that year around China National Day.

With these three additions now approved, Macau casinos have another set of baccarat extras to work into mass floor and premium play, while the regulator continues to formalize how each product can be offered.

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