Side bets like Player Pair, Banker Pair and Tie dangle a big payout - and quietly carry a house edge ten times higher than the main game. Pick one below to see how often it really lands, what it pays, and what it costs you over a session against a plain Banker bet. Every figure comes straight from our 8-deck rules engine.
The two main bets sit near the bottom of the casino at roughly 1%. Every side bet towers over them - between 8 and 14 times more expensive for every pound you stake.
| Bet | How often it lands | Payout | RTP | House edge | Cost / £100 staked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banker main | 45.86% | 1 : 0.95 | 98.94% | 1.06% | £1.06 |
| Player main | 44.62% | 1 : 1 | 98.76% | 1.24% | £1.24 |
| Player Pair | 7.47% | 11 : 1 | 89.64% | 10.36% | £10.36 |
| Banker Pair | 7.47% | 11 : 1 | 89.64% | 10.36% | £10.36 |
| Tie | 9.52% | 8 : 1 | 85.64% | 14.36% | £14.36 |
| Either Pair | 14.24% | 5 : 1 | 85.46% | 14.54% | £14.54 |
The benchmark - the cheapest bet on the table to keep playing.
Nearly 10x the cost of Banker - the 11:1 payout never covers how rarely a pair shows.
The most expensive bet here - lands more often, but the 5:1 payout is far too small.
Side bets are designed to look tempting and play expensive. The casino sets a payout that feels generous next to how rarely the bet lands - but "feels generous" and "is fair" are not the same thing. Three rules explain every side bet on the felt:
The honest play is simple: enjoy the main game, where the edge is among the lowest in any casino. Turn the numbers into a cost with the house-edge calculator, see the swings they create in the betting-system simulator, or read the full side bets guide.
A side bet is a separate wager placed alongside the main hand, settled on its own outcome and paytable rather than on whether Player or Banker wins. The most common are the pair bets - Player Pair and Banker Pair, which win if that side's first two cards share a rank - and the Tie. Because they are optional and independent, you can play baccarat your whole life and never touch one.
Casinos offer them for two reasons. The first is margin: a 10 to 14.5% house edge is enormous next to the 1.06% on Banker, so every pound moved from the main game onto a side bet is far more profitable for the house. The second is excitement - a rare 11:1 or 8:1 hit feels dramatic, and that drama keeps players reaching for the extra circle on the layout even though the long-run cost is steep.
The figures here assume a standard 8-deck shoe with the usual payouts: 11:1 on a single pair, 5:1 on Either Pair and 8:1 on the Tie. Two things shift them:
The 5% commission on Banker wins only touches the main bet, not the side bets - pair and Tie edges are fixed entirely by their own payouts.
The most common trap is feeling that a pair or a tie is "due" after a dry spell. With a fresh shoe, each hand is effectively independent: a pair that has not landed in 30 hands is exactly as likely on the next deal as it was on the first. Past results carry no memory, so there is no point at which a side bet quietly turns into good value.
Every probability on this page comes from the same 8-deck baccarat engine that powers our simulator and trainer, so the tools never disagree. For a side bet with a single payout, the house edge is:
where p is the chance the bet wins on a fresh shoe. Worked through for the Player Pair, which lands about 7.47% of the time and pays 11 to 1:
The session and per-£100 costs are that edge multiplied by everything you stake - the longer you play, the closer your real losses track it. Assumptions: 8 decks, standard payouts (Player and Banker Pair 11:1, Either Pair 5:1, Tie 8:1) and independent hands. A casino offering a lower payout carries a higher edge than shown, so always check the table you are playing.
Now you know which bets to avoid. See where to play the main game on the best terms - UK-licensed casinos rated for real baccarat table limits, not just their bonuses.
No. Every common side bet carries a house edge between roughly 10% and 14.5%, against about 1.06% on Banker. They cost you around ten times faster for every pound staked, so over any real session they are the worst value on the table.
Both are about 10.36% on an 8-deck shoe. A pair on the first two cards lands under 7.5% of the time, and the 11:1 payout is set below those true odds - which is exactly where the edge comes from.
Either Pair, at roughly 14.54%, is the most expensive bet covered here, with the Tie close behind at 14.36%. Both pay out more often or more handsomely than they should appear to - but never enough to be fair.
No. Each bet is settled independently on its own odds and payout - it does not change the main hand or your chances on Banker or Player. It simply adds a second, far more expensive bet on top.
Of the common ones, Player Pair and Banker Pair at about 10.36% are the least expensive - though still roughly ten times the cost of a Banker bet. Some casinos offer a Dragon Bonus whose Player version can dip near 2.65%, but it is not widely available and is still a long-run loss.
Only if you treat the stake as the price of a little extra excitement rather than a way to win, and keep it small next to your main bets. The cost adds up quickly, so a few low-stake side bets for fun is very different from making them your main wager.
They pay slightly less than the true odds of the event. A pair lands about once every 13 hands - true odds near 12.4 to 1 - but pays only 11 to 1. That gap between the fair price and the actual payout is exactly the house edge.
The core maths is the same on a standard 8-deck shoe. What varies is which side bets a table offers and what they pay, so a particular online or live table can be better or worse than these figures. A lower payout always means a higher edge - check the paytable.
Gambling should be fun, never a way to make money. Only stake what you can afford to lose. If it stops being fun, free, confidential support is available, see our responsible gambling page for BeGambleAware, GamCare and GAMSTOP.