Level 3 · Lesson 9 of 4 · Variant Mastery
EZ Baccarat: No Commission, Three Side Bets, One Caveat
The history and mechanics of EZ Baccarat
EZ Baccarat was designed by DEQ Systems Corp. and licensed to casinos beginning in 2004. The format became common in many US casinos and is available at some online live dealer studios. It was created to solve an operational irritant: collecting commission from each winning Banker hand requires the dealer to track what's owed and settle at the end of each shoe or player session, which slows the game and introduces complexity.
The solution was to eliminate the commission entirely and replace it with a single neutral result on a specific low-probability event. When Banker wins with a three-card total of exactly 7 (the Dragon 7 hand), Banker bets are returned as a push. No one wins, no one loses, the hand is over.
The mathematics of this substitution yields a Banker edge of 1.02%. That's 0.04 percentage points better than commission Banker at 1.06%. It is a genuine if marginal improvement for the player.
The Player bet is unaffected. It remains at 1.24%.
Galaxy Gaming, the side-bet licensor that brought the Dragon 7 and Panda 8 bets to market, generates ongoing revenue from EZ Baccarat deployments. The format's true commercial design is the combination: a slightly lower main-bet edge to attract players, with high-margin side bets attached to recapture the forgone commission revenue.
What happens to your bet on a Dragon 7
Say you've bet $100 on Banker. The hand plays out: Banker draws a third card and lands on 7, beating Player's total. Normally, you'd collect $95 (your stake returned plus $95 winnings after 5% commission).
In EZ Baccarat, that's a push. Your $100 is returned. You collect nothing, lose nothing. The hand is voided for Banker bets.
The Dragon 7 condition occurs on approximately 2.25% of hands. Over a long session, the frequency of these pushes is the mechanism by which the casino recovers the margin it would otherwise have collected as commission.
The Dragon 7 side bet
Because the Dragon 7 result is now a push rather than a Banker win, casinos introduced the Dragon 7 side bet to let players speculate on that specific outcome. If you place a Dragon 7 side bet and Banker wins with a three-card 7, you're paid 40 to 1. Your main Banker bet is pushed as normal.
The house edge on Dragon 7 is approximately 7.61%, per Eliot Jacobson's published analysis at apheat.net. That is seven times the edge on the main EZ Banker bet. The side bet exists specifically to extract revenue from players who feel frustrated by the push result and want a way to "win" on those hands.
If you play EZ Baccarat and a Dragon 7 push ends your Banker hand, the correct reaction is not to bet Dragon 7 the next time. The 2.25% frequency of the push condition means the Dragon 7 side bet's expected return is negative 7.61 cents per pound wagered. The frustration of the push is real. The solution offered by the side bet is an expensive one.
The Panda 8 side bet
Panda 8 is the second common side bet on EZ Baccarat tables. It pays 25 to 1 when Player wins with a three-card total of 8. Player three-card eights occur on approximately 3.49% of hands. The house edge is approximately 10.19%.
Panda 8 was introduced because players who bet Player rather than Banker wanted a side bet of their own after the Dragon 7 push disrupted Banker streaks. The asymmetry of the paytables (Dragon 7 pays 40 to 1, Panda 8 pays 25 to 1) reflects the different probability of each trigger event.
The house edge on Panda 8 is nearly ten times the house edge on the EZ Banker main bet. There is no scenario under which placing Panda 8 improves your expected outcome.
EZ Baccarat in London, Macau, and online
EZ Baccarat is not universally available in UK land-based casinos. Standard commission Punto Banco remains the most common format at London venues including the Hippodrome's Heliot Salon Prive and Aspers Westfield Stratford. EZ Baccarat is more prevalent in American casinos and at some online live dealer studios.
In Macau, EZ Baccarat appears on mass-market floors but VIP rooms continue to use commission baccarat almost exclusively. The commission model in Macau VIP rooms also came with a historical quirk: in the junket era, some rooms offered 4% commission rather than 5% as a negotiated incentive for high-volume players. That practice has become less common as the junket structure changed following regulatory reforms after 2022.
If you encounter EZ Baccarat online, check the variant rules on the provider's game information page. The relevant number is whether the Banker edge is listed as 1.02% rather than 1.06%, which confirms an EZ format table rather than standard commission. Evolution Gaming's live baccarat catalogue includes EZ variants in some jurisdictions.
Playing correctly at an EZ Baccarat table
The optimal strategy at EZ Baccarat is identical to standard Punto Banco with one modification: you're at a 1.02% Banker edge rather than 1.06%. The Dragon 7 push is a slight nuisance rather than a loss, and the correct response to it is to accept it calmly and continue playing the main bet at 1.02%.
The two side bets, Dragon 7 and Panda 8, should be ignored. Their edges are 7.61% and 10.19% respectively. They are not strategic options. They are optional taxes on players who find push results frustrating.
Key numbers
| Bet | House edge | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| EZ Banker | 1.02% | Three-card Banker 7 is a push |
| EZ Player | 1.24% | Same as standard Player |
| Dragon 7 side bet | 7.61% | 40 to 1 on Banker three-card 7 |
| Panda 8 side bet | 10.19% | 25 to 1 on Player three-card 8 |
| Standard Banker (comparison) | 1.06% | 5% commission on wins |
Sources: Eliot Jacobson on baccarat edges, Hippodrome baccarat, Aspers table games, Evolution Gaming baccarat, Galaxy Gaming EZ Baccarat.
Welcome to the lesson on EZ Baccarat.
I'm Annabel. EZ Baccarat is one of those formats that sounds like a player-friendly innovation and is partly right about that. Let me take you through what it actually does, what the side bets attached to it actually cost, and how to play it correctly.
The name comes from the idea of playing without commission. In standard Punto Banco, when Banker wins, you pay five percent of your winnings to the house as commission. EZ Baccarat eliminates that. No commission to track, no commission to settle at the end of the shoe. That's the "EZ" part.
What replaces the commission? A single rule change. When Banker wins with a three-card total of seven, the hand is declared a push. Banker bets are returned without profit. Nobody wins, nobody loses. That specific outcome is called the Dragon Seven.
The Dragon Seven occurs on approximately two point two five percent of hands. The mathematics of replacing the five percent commission with these neutral results yields a Banker house edge of one point zero two percent. That compares to one point zero six percent on standard commission Banker. It's a genuine improvement: four hundredths of a percentage point in your favour.
Player bet is unaffected. Still one point two four percent.
So on the main bets, EZ Baccarat is marginally better for you than the standard game. The Dragon Seven push is a minor inconvenience: you don't lose your stake, you just don't win. Over a long session, these pushes happen roughly two and a quarter percent of the time. Accept them. Move on.
Now the side bets. And this is where I need you to pay attention.
Because the Dragon Seven result is now a push rather than a win, casinos added a side bet called Dragon Seven that lets you speculate on that exact outcome. If you place a Dragon Seven side bet and Banker wins with a three-card seven, you're paid forty to one.
House edge on Dragon Seven: approximately seven point six one percent.
That is seven times the edge on the EZ Banker main bet you're sitting at. Galaxy Gaming licences this side bet to casino operators specifically because it restores the margin the no-commission rule otherwise forgoes. The side bet exists because players who experience a Dragon Seven push feel like they've been robbed of a Banker win. The forty-to-one payout offers a way to feel better about it. That feeling is expensive at seven point six one percent.
Panda Eight is the second side bet on most EZ Baccarat tables. It pays twenty-five to one when Player wins with a three-card eight. House edge: approximately ten point one nine percent. That is nearly ten times the edge on the main EZ Banker bet.
Neither side bet improves your expected outcome. The Dragon Seven at seven point six one percent and the Panda Eight at ten point one nine percent are purely optional taxes.
So how do you play EZ Baccarat correctly? Exactly the same way you play standard Punto Banco, with one minor modification: you're at a one point zero two percent Banker edge rather than one point zero six percent. Bet Banker. Ignore Dragon Seven and Panda Eight. When a Dragon Seven push happens, accept the return of your stake without frustration. That's it.
EZ Baccarat isn't widely available at London land-based venues. The Hippodrome on Leicester Square and Aspers at Westfield Stratford both run standard commission Punto Banco. You're more likely to encounter EZ Baccarat at American casinos or at some online live dealer studios. If you see it, check the game rules to confirm the Banker edge is listed as one point zero two percent. That confirms you're on an EZ table.
One practical note: in Macau VIP rooms, commission baccarat still dominates. The mass-market floors occasionally run EZ Baccarat, but the high-limit salons at properties like Wynn Macau use commission format almost exclusively, often settling commission at shoe end rather than hand by hand. The operational simplicity argument for EZ Baccarat is weaker in rooms where a dedicated dealer handles commission tracking for every hand anyway.
The format was designed partly to remove commission paperwork and partly to create the conditions for Dragon Seven and Panda Eight side bets. Take the main-bet improvement. Leave the side bets alone.
A note on where you'll encounter EZ Baccarat. London's major land-based venues, the Hippodrome on Leicester Square and Aspers at Westfield Stratford, run standard commission Punto Banco. You won't find EZ format there. In Macau, the VIP rooms at Wynn Macau and the Venetian Macao also default to commission baccarat at high-limit level, though some mass-market floors offer EZ tables. The format is most common in American casinos and at certain online live dealer studios. When you see it online, the game rules panel will tell you whether the Banker edge is listed as one point zero two percent, which confirms EZ, or one point zero six percent, which confirms the standard commission game.
One point zero two percent on Banker. That is the best main-bet edge in standard baccarat. Use it.