Mega Baccarat is a live casino online baccarat game that introduces multipliers and exciting, volatile features to standard baccarat gameplay. Released by Pragmatic Play in 2023, it boasts an RTP of up to 98.79% with a minimum bet of $0.1 and a $3,000 maximum wager. The game is available on both desktop and mobile and adds an interesting new variant to Pragmatic Play’s live baccarat portfolio.
Mega Baccarat is the first time we see Pragmatic Play attempt to blend a game show feel with classic baccarat rules. With a surprisingly high RTP and unique mechanics, it’s certainly an interesting release, and our Mega Baccarat review is here to see whether it lives up to the hype.
Game Specifications | |
---|---|
Game name | Mega Baccarat Live |
Game provider | Pragmatic Play |
Game type | Baccarat |
Streaming from | Romania |
RTP | 98.79% |
Bet range | €0.1 - €3,000 |
Max win | 1,000x |
Side bets | Yes |
Supported platforms | |
Supported OS | |
Languages |
Chinese
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English
Finnish
+15
All supported languages
|
Taking classic casino games and introducing a twist (usually in the form of multipliers and similar features) has proven to be a very good idea on multiple occasions. Pragmatic Play is certainly no stranger to such releases, though most of their efforts so far have been focused on roulette. Examples include the recent PowerUP Roulette and the fairly successful Mega Roulette.
It seems it’s time online baccarat got the same ‘Mega’ treatment. To our knowledge, this is one of the first live baccarat games with multipliers – barring, of course, Evolution’s Lightning Baccarat. It seems Pragmatic Play might try to turn their ‘Mega’ brand into a series, which may turn out quite interesting.
Mega Baccarat introduces multipliers to the classic game, and it does so in fairly interesting ways. We’ll get into the details below. For now, though, we’ll mention that this game is less of a game show and more of a classic card table with a few multiplier mechanics thrown into the mix. Keep that in mind if you’re on the fence about picking this title over the acclaimed (and more familiar) Lightning Baccarat, Mega Baccarat’s main competitor.
Not to say that Mega Baccarat doesn’t look great, mind you. It’s just closer to a standard table than other titles in this genre.
From the player’s end, Pragmatic Play’s Mega Baccarat plays similarly to most other live dealer baccarat tables. You have three main betting options – Player, Banker, and Tie. Your job is to predict which of these two will draw a hand closer to 9. Two cards are drawn from a shoe of 8 decks for each hand every round, with an optional third card in some circumstances.
In other words, it’s pretty standard stuff. We won’t spend too much time explaining the basic game flow. If you need to brush up on the basics of baccarat and how to play it, check out our beginner’s guide.
The most interesting feature of this game is the so-called Mega Round, which features multipliers.
After the betting period is over, you will notice random multipliers are added to every betting position. However, they are not active at this moment.
Instead, the camera turns to a dice shaker, not unlike the one you can find in Sic Bo. It rolls two standard 6-sided dice. If the resulting sum of both dice is 8 or 9, the Mega multipliers are applied. Every round with active multipliers is called a Mega round.
If you win any bets in a Mega round, the multipliers are applied on top of the standard payout. For example, let’s say you won a Banker bet with a 3x multiplier. You’ll win the standard 1:1 Banker bet payout and a 3x multiplier payout. In total, you would technically win 4x your stake.
Note that all bets made in Mega Baccarat have a 20% fee applied to them. This Mega fee exists to cover the increased winnings provided by the multipliers. You can’t opt out of it on this table – if you don’t want the fee, consider playing at a standard Pragmatic Play baccarat table instead.
The 20% commission initially seemed annoying to us, but it’s a fair price once you look at the numbers. In general, the RTP is barely lower than standard baccarat even though the maximum payouts are significantly higher.
Note that Mega Baccarat does not charge extra commission on Banker bets. Technically, this is a variant of no-commission baccarat.
Anyway, check out the full list of available bets in Mega Baccarat and their associated payouts and RTP rates.
Bet | Payout | RTP | |
---|---|---|---|
Mega Baccarat Payout Chart | |||
Player | 1:1 – 100:1 | 98.79% | |
Banker | 1:1 – 100:1 | 98.54% | |
Tie | 8:1 – 800:1 | 95% | |
Player Pair | 10:1 – 1,000:1 | 97% | |
Banker Pair | 10:1 – 1,000:1 | 97% |
Mega Baccarat RTP ranges from 95% to 98.79% depending on the bet you’re making. As usual, the Player and Banker bets are the strongest options, with Player having a slight advantage. The side bets are better than typical baccarat side bets, which is also true for the Tie, but they’re still suboptimal choices.
Make sure to choose the game that suits your taste and budget. For more extensive guides on live baccarat basics, read this article.
Mega Baccarat live casino game comes equipped with all of the usual bells and whistles Pragmatic Play offers. For starters, you can use the live chat to communicate with the dealers and other players. The menu on the top of the screen also contains audio/video settings, language options, and an in-game guide to all of the rules and features.
Additionally, the game also includes two common side bets: Player and Banker pairs. As the name implies, these bets win if the relevant hand receives two cards of the same rank during the initial draw. Mega Baccarat side bets can also be multiplied by the Mega Round feature.
Beyond that, the stream also offers several classic baccarat roadmaps. These screens show the results of previous rounds, focusing on patterns and trends. You can use them to keep track of the results but don’t expect to be able to predict future outcomes based on previous ones. You can find more information on baccarat road maps and how they work here.