Pragmatic Play Live now has quite a few “Mega games” in its range. Mega Wheel, Mega Roulette, and even Mega Sic Bo have adopted the title and multiplier element that the Mega series brings with it. Mega Baccarat is another example of this dynamic feature being put to good use. Of course, baccarat isn’t everybody’s cup of tea, so sprucing up the game with big money multipliers certainly isn’t a bad thing if Pragmatic Play wants to make the game more appealing.
What does Mega Baccarat have to offer that sets it apart from other live baccarat games, though? Why might you consider putting your money on live punto banco with this release? We had to dive in headfirst to make heads or tails of it, and we’re glad we did. This ramped-up version of baccarat has all the makings of a classic live casino title. Allow us to explain in our review.
Theme and Design
There is a distinctly Asian theme and style to Pragmatic Play’s Mega Baccarat. That shouldn’t perhaps be so surprising, given the popularity of baccarat in the physical, brick-and-mortar venues of Macao and beyond. You are, of course, looking at a dealer dressed in red, sitting in front of a well-light backdrop and a pink/purple table. Fortunately, the camera will zoom in a lot closer when it comes to the action, with a top-down view of the player and banker’s hands expected.
In terms of added information and wagering options, there’s plenty going on here. You can see the outcomes of previous bets; you can easily access an array of chip sizes and throw them down on banker hands, player hands, or tied bets. If we had one complaint, it would be that the add-ons do kind of dominate the screen, but there’s enough of it to still make Mega Baccarat feel like a live casino game, not another RNG baccarat release.
Specs and Gameplay
Don’t let people confuse you about baccarat. Yes, it can be complicated to learn the rules, especially those surrounding the use of third cards. That isn’t going to be an issue for you playing Pragmatic Play’s Mega Baccarat, though. This eight-deck game only required you to bet on whether you believe the banker’s hand or the player’s hand will win – or a tie if you’re feeling adventurous. Side-bet options include banker pairs and player pairs, but we’ll come to those after.
Far from being a basic game of baccarat, Mega Baccarat introduces players to those mad money multipliers that we’ve seen in the mechanics of other games in the Mega series. They’ll range up to a thousand times your bet, but that requires a bit of luck and a side bet. Outside of that, the game is fairly straightforward, adhering to the rules of conventional baccarat as you’d expect. If you’re new to the game, we’ll explain how it works below.
How to Bet and Win
Mega Baccarat begins with a bet. You’ll get to wager on the player, banker, or tie with conventional bets. If you want to take a bit of a gamble, you can also bet on the player pair or banker pair hands. Just like regular baccarat, the banker’s hand has a slight edge, so you’ll expect to pay a commission here. You won’t get long to make a bet here – just twelve seconds.
Stakes cost between 0.10 and 3,000.00 a turn in this game. It is worth noting that there is a 20% fee applied to bets. You can opt out of this, and it is used to pay for the multipliers. It is unceremoniously called the “Mega Fee” and it’s a highly contentious issue amongst players.
Once betting has concluded, the Mega Round begins, where the multipliers will be added to the mix. Two dice will be rolled at this point, and if they add up to eight or nine (a natural), then the multipliers become active. If they total something else, then no multipliers are applied, and the game continues as a conventional hand of baccarat.
As with all baccarat games, the objective is to get as close to nine as possible and beat the dealer’s hand. Remember, you can’t bust – tens and face cards count as zeros. You don’t need to make any decision in the game, with the third card rule being applied automatically – just pick a side to win. The hand closes to nine wins. In the event of a tie, bets are pushed and returned to players. The exception to this rule is if you’ve bet on a tie occurring.
If you successfully land a banker’s hand, you’ll receive a rate of 0.95:1, while player hands pay 1:1. Ties are worth 8:1. If multipliers are in play, you could win a lot more. Multipliers in Mega Baccarat range from 2x to 100x and can be applied to each position. Winning side-bets pay 10:1 irrespective of the pair you choose, and with a 100x multiplier, they’ll give you the game’s top prize, which is set to 1,000x your bet.
Now, when it comes to RTP, this game is surprisingly generous. Player and banker pairs have an RTP rate of 97%, while this rises to between 98.5% and 98.7% for banker and player hands. Forget about ties – they have an RTP of just 95%, which isn’t great by any stretch.
Bonus Features
It is possible to place a few side bets in this game. These include Mixed Pair, Coloured Pair, and Perfect Pair options. The Mixed Pair requires cards to be the same value, but one red and one black. The Coloured Pair requires a pair of cards with the same value and color. A Perfect Pair involves having two identical cards (value and suit).
When placing these bets, you must decide which pair bet you want and whether you believe it will be the banker’s or player’s hands that will land it. If your prediction comes true, and multipliers are in place, you could win up to a thousand times your bet.
GOSU Verdict
Mega Baccarat is a divisive game. We absolutely have no issue with Pragmatic Play spicing up the ordinary game by including multipliers, even if you do need 8s and 9s on dice to trigger them. This is still an arguably better proposition than you’ll get with Evolution’s Lightning Baccarat. However, we’re not fans of the forced fee. At 20%, the Mega Fee is just too high to justify the multipliers – at least for beginners or those on smaller budgets. Baccarat is often deemed a high-roller game, and that might be what Pragmatic Play is thinking here – we disagree with that notion.
Mega Baccarat definitely has more going for it than some of Pragmatic Play’s other basic card games, and it is worth exploring, if only once. You’ll find it at BTCGOSU’s top-rated and recommended Bitcoin and cryptocurrency online casinos – namely those that support Pragmatic Play Live games, such as those below.
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