Sands China ‘ended’ special two-tier bonus for baccarat side bet wagers (SIDE BETS)

 mar26

Macau casino operator Sands China Ltd “ended” from “March 16” (Monday) its special two-tier bonus for live-baccarat wagers on the side bet combinations ‘Lucky 6’ and ‘Lucky 7’ at all its premium and mass-market gaming floors across the city. That is according to tableside customer notices in Chinese, viewed onsite on Wednesday by GGRAsia.

The notices invited customers to “look forward” to “exciting.. new offers”, but didn’t elaborate. GGRAsia has approached Sands China for comment and further information on the new offers.

GGRAsia visited on Wednesday the main casino floors of The Venetian Macao, The Plaza, The Parisian Macao, and The Londoner Macao, in the Cotai district, to confirm the withdrawal. The step also applies to live-baccarat wagers at Sands Macao on the city’s peninsula.

The two-tier bonus, branded “Sands Baccarat Bonus”, had been first seen across Sands China’s high-limit and premium gaming venues in the Cotai casino district from mid-July. Players who wagered on the baccarat side bet combinations of Lucky 6, Small 6/Big 6, Lucky 7 and Super Lucky 7 – collectively named by the operator as “lucky wagers” – were eligible for the two-tier bonus.

The bonus feature was later also offered across Sands China’s mass gaming areas in Cotai and at Sands Macao.

The Sands Baccarat Bonus tiers were first, “Grand Bonus”. This was only triggered when the player’s hand won on a total of seven points over six points with a total of six cards, and where the player hand was formed solely by cards in the ‘diamonds’ suit while the banker hand was formed solely by ‘spades’.

The second tier was the “Major Bonus”, which was triggered when the player’s hand won on a total value of seven points over six points, with five or six cards. That was where the player’s hand was formed solely by cards of the same red suit – either ‘hearts’ or ‘diamonds’ – while the banker’s hand was formed solely by cards of the same black suit – either ‘spades’ or ‘clubs’.

Sands China seems to have been the only Macau operator to offer this specific type of baccarat bonus, in effect a progressive jackpot. That is based on GGRAsia’s periodic site checks of Macau gaming venues.

Baccarat side bets – favoured by the industry for boosting house edge – have been widely implemented in Macau since 2024, supported by ‘smart’ table technology.

During the second half of 2025, while Sands China was operating its baccarat progressive jackpot, other casino companies in the city opted for a strategy of simplifying baccarat side-bet options across their mass-floor and high-limit main-floor baccarat games.

Optimising the mix for side bet combinations has been a work in progress for the city’s gaming sector, noted industry scholar Ryan Ho Hong Wai in comments to GGRAsia in November.

Seaport Research Partners said in a March 2 update that baccarat side-betting had “been increasing in Macau”.

Senior analyst Vitaly Umansky had added: “We estimate that as a percentage of volume, side bets are now well over 3 percent and rising (the figure is higher in Singapore, especially at Marina Bay Sands) and we expect this will continue to increase.”

The institution estimated Macau’s casino gross gaming revenue (GGR) to track circa 7 percent growth in the years 2026 and 2027, respectively, supported by increasing visits and spend from customers from China, including “easy money flows and the benefits accruing from implementation of smart digital tables and increasing spend on side bets”.

https://www.ggrasia.com/sands-china-ended-special-two-tier-bonus-for-baccarat-side-bet-wagers-from-march-16?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sands-china-ended-special-two-tier-bonus-for-baccarat-side-bet-wagers-from-march-16

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