Power98 Baccarat @ Marina Bay Sands, SG
A few months ago, a reader contacted me about the ridiculously beatable Banker/Player Natural 8/9 bets in the Power98 Baccarat game at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. They used to pay 10:1 on a Natural 9, and 11:1 on a Natural 8. (And, they’d pay even more on a “Power Hand”.) Needless to say, this was obviously way too countable, and they finally figured it out, and lowered the pays down to 8:1 for both bets. This game was so beatable, I was even thinking about taking a trip out there. Oh well, our reader tells us that players figured it out, followed by management, and now it’s gone. I mean, this one was old school beatable. Throp and Walden wrote about this one in 1966, and that’s with a payout of 9:1 for both bets. What were these Power98 guys thinking? Anyway, even with their dealing procedure of placing 2 decks behind the cut card, the game was still beatable for about 61% of a fixed bet per shoe. It must have been funny to see everyone all of a sudden betting huge on both Player and Banker Natural 9. Oh well, sic transit gloria.
Discount Gambling 
Steve,
My source told me that a group of APs from Taiwan won about SGD200k in March and this group was barred from Sands casino. However, the management only lower the pays in early of June. LOL
James
I saw you asking about power baccarat a year ago in a Dragon7 thread? how much did you make?
I’m one ap .played it from march until the game end.
Perry, are the one who rejected my WhatsApps chat ? Are you Singaporean ?
We started late, about 80K. We plan to “milk” it slowly and hope the game can last longer. However, other team “whacked” it like there’s no tomorrow !
What should you do if you find a beatable game ?
A good +EV game is a textbook example of the tragedy of the commons, ideally you would have many groups each making a small amount, staying under the radar. However, if somebody gets greedy, the house catches on and the game gets shut down. Chances are, somebody will overplay the game, or the house will hire someone good at math, or the game will shut down for some other reason. If that is the case, the best option is to hit the game for as much as you can, as fast as you can, and get your money while the getting is good. Reminds me of a story I heard somewhere where two separate card-counting teams hit a casino right after it opened, and a month later when they looked at the numbers they realized what happened and went to CSMs.
The Wizard of Odds works for Sands Corporation as a math consultant. I would think his hire had something to do with the payout changes.
what, you mean the wizard killed an AP game?
I am rather confused, as I used to know the game as just Power Baccarat (without the 89 or 98):
http://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gambling/other-games/3490-power-baccarat/
So has this game replaced it? Or is the “old” version still available too?
Resorts World Sentosa recently introduced easy six baccarat. Is this game beatable?
similar to one of the online casino side bet ?
Looks like the Easy 6 side bet is as countable as the Dragon-7. But since it’s a 6:1 payout (instead of a 40:1), it’s much lower variance. Also, the betting frequency is higher than the dragon-7. I’ll publish shortly.
Steve
hmjt, I would like to know more details
contact me : bjman2010@gmail.com
I played the game from November 2011 till the end, using some technique other than counting. I saw most of the APs who played this game (30+ people from 10+ teams), although I am just a part-time player.
The first team I saw was a team lead by a Taiwan AP / book writer in March. On the third day they arrived, the house reduced the table maximum from S$5,000 (total amount for all natural bets) to S$1,000. This killed the team immediately and so the leader dismissed the team. None of the 10 members left Singapore. Instead, the big team was divided into several smaller teams and continued counting using their own money. On the fourth day, the house started to bar the players. Then the game lasted for another 3 months before the so-called version 3, which pays only 8 to 1 instead of 10 or 11 to 1 for natural 9 and 8, was released in June.