Baccarat Insurance

I was in a casino on the Cambodia/Vietnam border and they were offering insurance on baccarat hands. Because of the language barrier I could not fully understand what they were doing, it appeared if a customer had 6,7,8,9 in the hand they were playing they could insure it by posting another bet equal to 1/2 of their current bet. I never saw a player win one of these bets so I was not sure how they were paid. Is anyone familiar with such a proposition? Does the bet pay 2-1 only to cover the initial wager or does it vary depending on the hand value they are insuring? what is the house edge on such a prop? Any input would be appreciated, thanks.

I indicate all the mid-state probabilities in baccarat in my baccarat appendix 3. Once in Macau I saw a casino offering insurance in most situations after the first four cards were dealt. I don't remember the payoffs, but did analyze them at one point, and found most of the time insuring was a terrible bet.

I want to look at card counting insurance, most specifically insuring a Player or Banker natural (two-card) 9. From what I understand, insuring a natural 9 pays 9-to-1 if the other side also has a natural 9, otherwise it loses. There is no question that this is vulnerable, but in quantifying it I have two questions:

Is the maximum wager on insurance limited in some fashion by the wager on the main bet?

Do you even need to make a bet on Player/Banker to make an insurance side bet?

TIA.

Quote: teliot

I want to look at card counting insurance, most specifically insuring a Player or Banker natural (two-card) 9.
TIA.

Bear in mind teliot is a casino consultant who, judging on past evidence, is quite likely to contact the casino in question and tell them what the vulnerability in their side bet is, then be surprised when they don't want to pay or hire him.

Volunteering information to someone like this is perhaps not a good idea.