Baccarat + 3 is a game designed by Imperial Casino Games that first debuted at the 2008 Raving's Cutting Edge Table Game conference, where it was judged among the top five new games presented. It is, as the name suggests, a hybrid of three card poker and baccarat, where the player is dealt a pool of cards for which to make hands for both games, as in Pai Gow Poker.

(Last updated: 29 September 2025)

Introduction and general procedure:

1. Baccarat Plus Three is played with one standard deck of 52 playing cards.
2. Before the cards are dealt, each player makes a wager on one or more of three possible bets: the “Main Bet”, the “Poker Bet”, and the “Tie Bet”.
3. Once all wagers have been placed, each player is dealt five cards, and then the dealer is dealt five cards.
4. In turn, each player divides his hand into a two-card baccarat hand and a three-card poker hand.
1. The baccarat hand is ranked according to standard baccarat rankings: Tens and Face Cards count as zero, and cards from Ace through Nine count one through nine respectively, and only the ones’ digit in the total counts as the score; that is, an Eight and a Seven would total fifteen points, but would only rank as a Five.
2. The three-card poker hand is ranked according to standard three-card rankings, meaning that a Straight ranks higher than a Flush.
5. Once all players have done this, the dealer turns over his five cards and sets his hand according to the following House Way:
1. First, if the dealer can make at least a Straight in the poker hand, the dealer sets the highest possible Baccarat hand that still allows him to have at least a Straight or better in the poker hand.
2. Failing that, if the dealer can make a Nine in the baccarat hand, the dealer sets the highest possible poker hand that still allows him to have a Nine in the baccarat hand.
3. Failing that, if the dealer can make One Pair in the poker hand, the dealer sets the highest possible Baccarat hand that still allows him to have One Pair in the poker hand.
4. Failing that, the dealer sets the highest possible baccarat hand; if there is more than one possible way to set that baccarat hand, the way will be chosen that allows for the biggest possible poker hand.
6. First, the Main Bet is resolved.
1. If the player’s baccarat hand beats the dealer’s baccarat hand, and the player’s poker hand beats the dealer’s poker hand, then the player wins on the Main Bet.
2. If the dealer’s baccarat hand beats the player’s baccarat hand, and the dealer’s poker hand beats the player’s poker hand, then the dealer wins on the Main Bet.
3. If the dealer and player have baccarat hands of the same rank:
1. If the two hands are tied at a total between zero and eight, the player’s baccarat hand will be considered the winner.
2. If the two hands are tied at a total of nine, the dealer’s baccarat hand will be considered the winner.
7. Next, the Tie Bet is resolved.
1. If the player and the dealer have baccarat hands of the same rank, the player’s Tie Bet wins and is paid as follows:
1. If this is a Nine-Nine tie, the Tie Bet is paid even money.
2. If the tie occurs at any other rank, the Tie Bet is paid at a rate of 6:1.
2. If the player and the dealer have baccarat hands of different rank, the player’s Tie Bet loses.
8. Finally, the Poker Bet is resolved.
1. If the player’s poker hand is at least a Straight, his Poker Bet will be paid according to the Poker Bet Paytable. (see below)
2. The player’s hand may be re-set from its original Main Bet configuration for purposes of maximizing the payout of this bet.

Main Wager:

The expectation for the Main Wager was calculated by a simulation of 250,000,000 hands. For each hand, the player's hand was set to maximise the sum of probabilities of the three-card poker hand winning and the baccarat hand winning. The results of these simulation are given below, indicating a house edge of 3.75% of the initial wager.

Poker Bet:

To calculate the return for the Poker Bet, each possible five-card hand was iterated through, and set in such a way to maximize the payout on the Poker Bet Paytable. The breakdown of these results is given below, indicating a house edge of 3.09% of the amount wagered.

Tie Bet:

To figure out the optimal player strategy for the tie bet, each possible dealer hand was iterated through to determine the likelihood of the dealer reaching each possible baccarat rank. This was used as the cornerstone of the strategy for the player's tie bet, and a simulation of 250,000,000 hands was conducted. The results are given below, showing a house advantage of 7.69% of the amount wagered.

Optimal Player Strategy:

Aside from the vast number of combinations, there are two additional problems preventing the encoding of a complete player strategy:

• The player strategies for maximizing the Main Bet are different than the strategies for maximizing the Side Bet.
• The player may have different amounts bet on the Main Bet and the Tie Bet.

For the Tie Bet, the optimal player strategy can be achieved by setting the player's baccarat hand according to the following priority (ranked from highest to lowest): 8, 9, 7, 6, 5, 0, 4, 3, 2, 1.