HOW TO PLAY ICONIC21 LIVE BACCARAT
If you played any live casino baccarat game before, you’ll understand how this one works as well. After all, it aims to be a classic baccarat table, so the rules are what most players would expect. If not, we’ll walk you through how it all fits together.
ICONIC21 Baccarat uses 8 standard 52-card decks from which the dealer draws cards from a previously-shuffled shoe. There are two main bets, which correspond to two card piles on the table – Player and Banker. Additionally, you can also bet on a Tie and a few side bets.
Your goal is to predict whether Banker or Player will be closer to a total value of 9 after drawing two cards. However, only the last digit of any number over 9 counts towards the score. For instance, a total hand value of 14 only counts as 4. Beyond that, Aces count as 1 while all face cards count as 10, which is effectively 0.
After both piles draw two cards each, a third card may be drawn if certain conditions are met. Player draws the third card on any total of 0-5, while the Banker side draws depending on the Player’s hand total. Additionally, if either Player or Banker has a hand total of 8 or 9 with two cards, the game instantly ends (unless the other side has an equal or stronger hand.) This is called a Natural win.
You can also predict that both hands will have the same value, which is a Tie. If a round results in a Tie, any Player and Banker bets have their stakes returned to them.
Side Bets
The ICONIC21Live Baccarat game offers a total of six side bets. Some of them are essentially mirrored variants that apply to either the Player or Banker side.
- Perfect Pair wins if the first two cards either Player or Banker draw have the same rank and value. The payout is substantially increased if both piles draw perfect pairs.
- Player/Banker Pair bets only win if the selected card pile draws two cards of the same rank in its initial two-card draw.
- Either Pair wins if either Player or Banker draws two cards of the same rank. It pays less than the other Pair bets, but it’s also the likeliest to win.
- Player/Banker Bonus wins if the Player or Banker wins with a Natural hand and a point difference of at least 4. Player/Banker Bonus bets that win with a bigger point margin receive a bigger payout.
ICONIC21 Live No Commission Baccarat
You can also play ICONIC21 Live Baccarat without the 5% commission on Banker bets. It’s simply dubbed NC Baccarat.
To clarify, all Banker bets in standard baccarat tables pay a 5% commission on winnings. The reasoning is simple – Banker bets are slightly more likely to win than Player bets, so they pay less.
However, in No Commission Baccarat, Banker bets that win with a hand total of 6 pay 0.5:1 instead of 1:1. All other banker bets pay the same.
You can choose to play either the regular or No Commission variant from ICONIC21. Both tables use the same video stream and interface and have largely identical rules. However, it’s worth noting that No Commission baccarat has a weaker optimal RTP than the regular version.
