Live Lightning Baccarat by Evolution is a live dealer baccarat game released in 2020. It boasts an RTP of 98.76% with a minimum bet of $1 and a $500 maximum wager. The game is available on both desktop and mobile and features multipliers and Evolution’s professionally trained live dealers.
The Lightning feature of the original Evolution Lightning Roulette proved to be quite a success. More similar titles were rolled not long after, and a live table baccarat table seems like the obvious choice. In this Lightning Baccarat game review, we’ll see how Evolution baccarat meshes with such shocking features.
Game Specifications | |
---|---|
Game name | Lightning Baccarat |
Game provider | Evolution |
Game type | Baccarat |
Streaming from | Latvia |
RTP | 98.76% |
Bet range | €1 - €500 |
Max win | $500000 |
Side bets | Yes |
Supported platforms | |
Supported OS | |
Languages |
Albanian
Bulgarian
Chinese
Croatian
Czech
Finnish
+15
All supported languages
|
Evolution Gaming’s latest product presented at ICE 2020 is another lightning-powered casino game hosted by elegant dealers in a gorgeous, breath-taking studio setting. Evolution completely won over the audience with Lightning Dice and especially with Lightning Roulette, which was one of the biggest releases of its time. They then decided to whip out another electrifying casino game just in time for the beginning of the year. The third member of the Lightning family is Lightning Baccarat. It’s the first one to embrace the card games tradition while continuing the popular company concept of combining RNG multipliers with live table action.
The great thing about Lightning Baccarat is that you don’t have to learn any special rules to be able to play it. This is still a standard baccarat game where well-known rules apply. You merely need to go over a few new features and you’ll be ready to place your first bet. In case you haven’t had a chance to play Lightning live casino games before, you will be swept away by the stunning Art Deco environment and the graceful mannerisms of the dealers.
As most baccarat games, Lightning Baccarat is played with 8 standard 52-card decks and the dealer draws cards from a shoe of previously shuffled cards. You will be betting on Banker, Player, or Tie, the three standard wagers in baccarat. Therefore, you will see three main betting areas for these three bets. There will also be two additional side bet areas for Banker Pair and Player Pair. We’ll discuss these in more detail in the special features section.
Betting on the Banker means that you stake your money on the Banker’s hand to beat the Player’s hand. The hand that has a value closest to 9 wins. To interpret the hand values you need to remember that Aces are ranked the lowest in a game of baccarat and they are worth 1 point each. Cards from 2 to 9 retain their face values, whereas 10s, Jacks, Queens, and Kings are worth 0 points.
Importantly, there are rules for drawing a third card. If the pile’s point total is between 0 and 5 after the first two cards, that side draws another. The only exception is if the banker already has 8 or 9, in which case the banker wins outright. This means that the banker side has a slight advantage – it’s more likely to win in the right circumstances. That’s why a 5% commission is charged on all banker wins.
The only other thing you need to know about how Lightning Baccarat works are the multipliers. We’ll explain these further down.
Below, you’ll find a nice compilation of stunning Lightning Baccarat moments, compiled by Evolution themselves. It does a great job of showing how to win Lightning Baccarat. Both the multiplier feature and stunning studio are there, which should give you a solid idea of the game experience.
In true Evolution fashion, the Lightning Baccarat game is quite the spectacle. That said, it’s a bit more subtle than the equivalent roulette game – there are no dramatic lever pulls this time. Still, it’s quite breathtaking even among the best live baccarat games.
The good part about Lightning Baccarat is that the payouts remain largely identical to regular live baccarat. This is most important for the two main bets – Player and Banker. Both sides still pay out even money, though Banker bets have a standard 5% commission.
The Tie wager and the side bets are where things become bad for the overall RTP. Tie bets payout an abysmal 5:1, compared to the standard 9:1. However, the tie bet can stack up with lightning multipliers for some stunning wins.
Bet | Payout | ||
---|---|---|---|
Evolution Lightning Baccarat Payouts | |||
Player | 1:1 | ||
Banker | 9.5:1 | ||
Tie | 5:1 | ||
Pair | 9:1 |
However, each bet is also charged a 20% fee to cover the cost of the multipliers. That’s why we recommend sticking to the two main bets – Player and Banker. Otherwise, you’re taking an increase to the house’s edge twice over.
If you play Lightning Baccarat for real money, keep in mind that the multipliers are integral to the game. That’s why these payouts are not nearly as bad as they might seem at first glance. These can stack with each other for impressive amounts, but all payouts are maxed at $500,000.
Make sure to choose the game that suits your taste and budget. For more extensive guides on live baccarat basics, read this article.
So how does Lightning Baccarat work, in terms of the multipliers? Once betting time over, the so-called lightning round begins. Up to 5 cards are randomly selected and assigned a multiplier value that can be 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x, or 8x. Only then are the cards drawn and the baccarat game progresses as usual.
If you bet on one side and that side draws a lightning card and wins, your winnings will be multiplied by the assigned value. For instance, if you wager $10 on a Player bet and it gets multiplied by x5, you’ll win $100!
To make things even crazier, multiple Lightning cards all multiply each other to create massive wins. This also applies to Tie bets, which can get multiplied up to 6 times!
The Pair baccarat side bet works as normal as well. All you have to do is predict whether the chosen side will have a pair. Side bet winnings are also modified by multipliers.