Bac Bo has three bets, and the payout rules for all of them fit in one table. Player and Banker pay even money, 1 to 1, but each loses 10% of the stake when the round ends in a tie. The Tie bet pays 4 to 1 up to 88 to 1, depending on the total both sides share. This guide turns each rule into chips, builds a ledger of what every outcome does to a stake, lists the Tie rate for every total and tests the idea that covering both sides removes the cost. The figures come from code we ran on the 1,296 dice combinations, and the rates match what Evolution and independent breakdowns of the game publish.
Three Bets, Side by Side
Each column below is one bet. The last two rows are long-run averages and not a forecast for any session.
| Rule | Player | Banker | Tie |
| Wins when | Player’s total is higher | Banker’s total is higher | Both totals are equal |
| Pays | 1 to 1 | 1 to 1 | 4 to 1 up to 88 to 1, by total |
| If the round ties | Loses 10% of the stake | Loses 10% of the stake | Wins |
| Chance per round | 44.37% | 44.37% | 11.27% |
| House edge | 1.13% | 1.13% | 4.48% |
| Return to player | 98.87% | 98.87% | 95.52% |
Evolution says the Tie bet can pay up to 88 to 1, and independent breakdowns of the game give the same table of rates.
What “N to 1” Means in Chips
A payout of N to 1 means you win N chips for each chip staked, and your stake is handed back as well. At even money, a 20-chip bet that wins leaves you 20 chips ahead and puts 40 chips in front of you, half of them your own. A bet that loses forfeits the stake. Tie rates work the same way: at 4 to 1, a winning chip returns 4 chips of profit plus the stake.
Some tables write “for 1” instead, which counts the stake inside the payout, so “5 for 1” and “4 to 1” describe the same thing. If a number on the screen looks one chip too high, that is usually why.
The Tie Rule for Player and Banker Bets
On a tie, a Player or Banker bet neither wins nor pushes. A review site and an independent analyst both say the stake comes back minus 10%. In chips, a 10-chip bet gets 9 chips back and costs 1, and a single chip returns 0.90 and costs 0.10.
That one rule is the whole house edge on the sides. Each side wins 575 of the 1,296 combinations, so on decided rounds an even-money bet breaks even. Ties come up in 146 combinations, or 11.27% of rounds, and each one costs 0.10 chips per chip staked. Multiply the two and the average cost is 1.13% per chip, which leaves a return of 98.87%.
A Ledger for a 10-Chip Bet
The ledger shows the net change in your balance, in chips, for each bet and each outcome. The two Tie columns use a total of 7, which pays 4 to 1, and a total of 5, which pays 6 to 1.
| Your bet | Player wins | Banker wins | Tie at 7 | Tie at 5 |
| 10 on Player | +10 | -10 | -1 | -1 |
| 10 on Banker | -10 | +10 | -1 | -1 |
| 10 on Tie | -10 | -10 | +40 | +60 |
Read across the Player row and the shape is clear: wins and losses are the same size, and a tie shaves a small fixed amount off the balance. The Tie row is the mirror image, a string of full losses broken by an occasional large win.
Combined bets follow the same ledger. Put 20 chips on Player and 5 on Tie, and let the round end level on a total of 6, which pays 4 to 1. The Player bet loses 2 chips and the Tie bet wins 20, so the round nets +18. If Player wins instead, the result is +20 and -5, a net of +15, and if Banker wins it is -20 and -5, a net of -25.
Tie Payouts by Total
The Tie bet pays according to the total both sides share, and rarer totals pay more. Five rates cover all eleven totals, and the table shows how many of the 146 tie combinations each rate holds.
| Pays | Shared totals | Combinations (of 1,296) | Chance per round |
| 88 to 1 | 2 or 12 | 2 | 0.154% |
| 25 to 1 | 3 or 11 | 8 | 0.617% |
| 10 to 1 | 4 or 10 | 18 | 1.39% |
| 6 to 1 | 5 or 9 | 32 | 2.47% |
| 4 to 1 | 6, 7 or 8 | 86 | 6.64% |
The five rates are 88, 25, 10, 6 and 4 to 1. The headline rate sits on only 2 of the 146 combinations. Totals of 6, 7 and 8 share the lowest rate and hold 86, so a typical tie pays 4 to 1. The tie bet odds guide works out how often each rate lands.
Does Covering Both Sides Remove the Cost?
A popular idea says that a chip on Player and a chip on Banker removes the risk. It removes the swing on decided rounds, because one bet wins 1 chip while the other loses 1, so the pair nets zero. It does not remove the cost.
When the round ties, each bet loses 0.10 chips, so the pair costs 0.20 chips. Ties arrive in 11.27% of rounds, which puts the expected cost at 0.023 chips a round on 2 chips staked, or 1.13% of the money in play, the same percentage as a single-sided bet. Over 120 rounds the pair costs 2.70 chips on 240 chips staked. What you bought is a flat line with a gentle downward slope.
Why There Is No Better Side
Baccarat players learn that Banker wins slightly more often than Player, 45.86% of eight-deck rounds against 44.62%, and that casinos charge a 5% commission on Banker wins to compensate. Bac Bo has no such asymmetry. Both sides throw two ordinary dice, so each takes 575 combinations and the odds are identical.
Choosing between them therefore has no mathematical answer. Pick one, alternate, or let a coin decide: the cost per chip is the same. Any preference is about how you like to follow the display and not about value.
What to Confirm on the Rules Panel
Everything above describes the standard three bets. Limits, side bets and the way rates are displayed vary by operator, and we have not tested any particular table. Run through this list when you open one.
- Player and Banker both pay 1 to 1 on a win.
- The panel says what happens to those bets on a tie. A charge of 10% of the stake is the figure that matches this series.
- The five Tie rates match 88, 25, 10, 6 and 4 to 1.
- Any return figure sits near 98.87% for the sides.
- The minimum and maximum stake tell you how many rounds a budget buys.
A table that differs on any point is a different version of the game, and the figures here will not apply to it. If a table will not show its payouts, treat that as a reason to stop. The legal and safety guide covers what else to check in the US.
Other Guides in the Series
The Bac Bo hub gathers all eight guides. The rest of the set picks up where this one leaves off.
- How Bac Bo works: the table and a full round, with ten example throws.
- Bac Bo house edge and RTP: the 1,296 combinations behind every figure on this page.
- Bac Bo tie bet odds: the five payout groups and how often each one lands.
- Bac Bo streaks and road maps: why a road records history without predicting it.
- Bac Bo betting systems and bankroll: three staking plans tested over the same sessions.
- Bac Bo vs baccarat: how the payouts differ from the card game.
- Is Bac Bo legal in the US: state licensing, age limits and what to check before you play.
Price the Payouts in Hours
Every payout in this guide has a price tag. At 1 chip a round on Player or Banker, an hour stakes 120 chips and is expected to cost 1.35. At 5 chips the expected cost is 6.76, and at 25 chips it is 33.80. Pick the figure you can afford to lose before you start. The US responsible gaming page lists the tools for setting limits and the services that can help.
❓ Bac Bo Payouts: Frequently Asked Questions
What is the biggest payout in Bac Bo?
Do Player and Banker bets push on a tie in Bac Bo?
Which Bac Bo bet wins most often?
Is there a commission on winning bets in Bac Bo?
Author:
Lucas Portela
Owner, BoldGambler • Avanhandava/SP
Oddsmaker, affiliate and content creator in the iGaming industry.