Inside Asian Gaming

traditionally has only ever had payments of even money or less. • The Bonus Box gives players the opportunity to turn a penalty situation into a bonus payment of up to four to one. The UP2U ‘player’and ‘banker’bets can be played once in a while, as a side-bet, or constantly, as an alternative to the traditional bets— all without affecting other players’ style of play. “In traditional baccarat, a winning bet on ‘player’ only gets paid even money—never more, never less,” points out Danie Van Vuuren. “A winning bet on banker in traditional baccarat gets what’s called ‘19 to 20’ payment. That’s for every 100 the players bet, they get 95 back. No commission baccarat still keeps the player payment the same, but on banker it pays even money on all winning totals except on the total of ‘six’, when it pays half. “UP2U incorporates what we call reverse commission. Again, based on the winning point counts—you can only win on points one through to nine. With UP2U, on most of the points we will pay in excess of even money,” he explains. “From one point to six points, these bets will actually pay ‘taxes’ in terms of reverse commission. So instead of taking five percent away, we’re adding it on top, for a net difference of 10%. The idea is, if the person plays both bets and he wins on a low total, he pays ‘tax’ here, but he gets it back there, which gives him an effective even money proposition. Converting a penalty “On eight or nine points, it will pay even money. He’s not lost anything, but he’s also not paying tax [commission]. The catch comes on the seven. When the player wins on seven points, this bet isn’t paid immediately. It comes to the bonus box. This is one of the new concepts that we bring to baccarat. Although it is a penalty situation, the player has the opportunity to turn the penalty situation into a possible bonus situation. The outcome of the bonus box bet is based on the outcome of the next hand,” says Mr Van Vuuren. “Given the propensity of Asian baccarat players to track past wins and predict future ones, we think the additional payments of the UP2U betting configuration encourage new and exciting playing strategies.” UP2U Baccarat was introduced to The Venetian Macao and Sands Macao casinos on a trial basis in December 2009, and the company is in talks to have it adopted in other regional markets. SASIAN says it quickly proved a hit in Macau, outperforming the surrounding traditional baccarat tables in terms of both win per hour and hold percentage. SASIAN says the new betting options had no adverse effect on the pace of the game, nor on productivity from the operator’s point of view. “UP2U Baccarat has showed that Asian baccarat players are very willing to try new flavours of their favourite game,” says Mr Van Vuuren. Place your bets—UP2U in close Blues, Bikes, Rock and Booze... we’re gonna have a real good time! The Guinness Guitar Giveaway a monthly draw for an electric guitar signed by a famous rock blues legend Free Blooze Bus service for guests www.facebook.com/theroadhousemacau Rua de Madrid, Wan Yu Villas, Macau Avenida do Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Avenida do Xian Xing Hai Avenida do Covernador Jaime Silvério Marques Kum Iam Statue Win a trip for 2 to the Malaysian MotoGP in October