About the game
After the success of Lightning Roulette, category: Evolution decided to release a number of games in which the lightning bolts add some extra thrills and stand for bigger wins. Lightning Baccarat is one of these lightning games where you have a chance to win big time. This live casino game is largely the same as classic Baccarat (or Punto Banco, whatever you prefer), but adds random multipliers to the game. In our Lightning Baccarat review we’ll go through the rules of the game and give you our top list of best Lightning Baccarat casinos in Canada.
Where to play it
Our website recommends the best casinos for Canadian players that offer Live Baccarat by Evolution. All of these casinos have been hand picked by our industry experts and we’re sure you won’t find a lot of options on the internet that are better than the casinos below:
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The rules
Evolution’s Lightning Baccarat works the same as the regular version and all you have to do is decide who you think will win: you or the bank, while a third option is to bet on a tie. Each card from 2-9 is worth its own number of points. For an Ace you get 1 point and the 10, J, Q and K are all worth 0 points. The goal is to score as many points as possible, with 9 being the highest. In the event one of the two-card sides has a lower number of points, a third card can be drawn to increase the total number of options. The first to receive such a third card is the Player. If the Player gets more points with that third card, the Banker also gets a third card.
Lightning bolts mean multipliers
If you have correctly predicted the winning side, you will receive $1 for every $1 wagered on Player, $0,95 for every Dollar wagered on the Banker and $5 for a tie. Lightning Baccarat differs from regular baccarat as a number of cards are struck by lightning before each round finishes. This gives these cards a multiplier of 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x or 8x. So with a 3x multiplier and the same $1 bet, the Player will add up to $3, the Banker gives you $2,85 and a tie stands at $15. It’s also possible to combine multipliers. If two cards are both struck by lightning and have a multiplier of 3x and 4x, then all your winnings are multiplied by 12x.
How to win
Thanks to the success of the Lightning games and the reliability and Evolution’s popularity, you will come across Lightning Baccarat in many live casino lobbies. Most casinos that offer live casino games use the Evolution lobby meaning that nothing stands in your way to make a bet yourself. Here’s how to make a win with your next bet on Lightning Baccarat:
Choose the amount of your bet
Just like in any other casino, you’ll need to make use of the chips to first determine the amount of your bet. The different colours represent different values, meaning that you can choose chips between $1 and $500 (although some casinos could work with different values). Please note that Lightning Baccarat works with a commission (the Lightning Fee) of 20%. So if you make a bet of $1, you’ll see that a fee of $0,20 is added. This is always visible in the game’s user interface.
Place your bets
Once you have determined your bet size, choose the bet you want to play: Player, Banker or Tie. You can also bet on multiple options at once.
Choose your bonus bets
Optionally, you can also play with the bonus bets to increase your potential payout. These side bets are located at the ends of the betting field.
Pay attention to the cards that are struck by lightning
Just like in the other Evolution lightning games, you have a chance of higher wins when lightning strikes. After all bets have been placed, any card can be randomly struck by lightning bolts. These cards will turn out to have a higher payout.
Win a bigger amount with a tie
For the cards that have been hit by the lightning bolt, a multiplier is applied. Because of this, a tie can certainly yield much more, that is, if lightning cards are dealt to both sides.
How to play
To get started with Lightning Baccarat it is of course important to know what value each cart represents. Lightning Baccarat works with 8 different card decks which are used by the live dealer guiding you through the game. All of these cards obviously have a certain value. The ace has the lowest value of 1 point. Then you have the numbered cards from 2 to 9. These are worth their corresponding value. The cards king, queen, jack and 10 are all worth zero points. Do note that only numbers count and before the game starts, players have a limited amount of time to place a bet: either on the banker’s hand, the players’ hand, or a tie.
Keep an eye out for the Lightning bolt
When the time to bet has expired it’s time to sit back as the Lightning round is about to start. Here, 5 cards are randomly drawn from a 52-card deck. These cards are the Lightning cards and have a multiplier of 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x or 8x. If you win and you’ve been dealt one of these cards, your winnings will gain an additional multiplier. After the Lightning round, the dealer gives the first two cards to the bank and the player.
When multipliers multiply
Each hand now has a certain value. If the value is more than 10, only the second number is used. For example, if you get 9 and 7, you would initially have 16 points, but according to this rule the value of your hand actually turns out to be 6. If the player or bank gets a hand with a value of 8 or 9 which leads to a natural, the game stops and no more cards are dealt. If this isn’t the case, the third card rule will decide whether a third card is needed for the player and bank. One of the greatest benefits of this game is that a tie can lead to a payout of 262144x your bet. If you’ve been dealt two cards that have both been hit by lightning, the multipliers are multiplied together meaning that a multiplier of 4x and 5x will give you 20x your stake.
Lightning Baccarat Side Bets
One of the characteristic of Lightning Baccarat we most enjoy is that there are a few side bets available giving you two extra options to bet on:
- Players Pair: if the player’s first two cards are the same.
- Bankers Pair: if the first two cards of the bank are the same.
Do note that the RTP’s are significantly lower (88,35% as opposed to 98,59% for a standard bet on the banker) and that the house edges are a lot higher: 11,65% for both side bets.
The features
Exclusively from Evolution’s gaming laboratory, Lightning Baccarat is like no other baccarat game. Brought to you in an stunning black and gold Art Deco game show-style studio, it’s as graphically as amazing as all of the other Lightning games launched by Evolution. As Evolution games stand for premium quality it won’t take you long to find out that both the studio and the dealers give you the perfect setting for the ultimate baccarat experience. Evolution’s professional dealers are highly skilled, speak several languages, and will keep you engaged at all times to make sure you won’t miss a thing. The game also includes live betting statistics and a range of roads, making it as engaging as it can get for both skilled and novice players. As the game gives you massively multiplied winnings, a 20% so-called Lightning Fee is added to each player’s total bet. You’ll see this in the game’s user interface.
RTP
The Return to Player (RTP) of Lightning Baccarat depends on the stake. For the highest RTP, you would need to bet on Player, which gives you a RTP of 98,76%. Banker has a slightly lower RTP of 98,59% and a tie leads to a RTP of 94.51%. For the bonus bets you get the lowest RTP: 88,35%. It does give you major payouts as two cards that are struck by lightning can lead to combined multipliers. Do note that the house edge raises up to 11,65%.
