Baccarat insurance in Macau

Baccarat insurance is now being offered at high limit Baccarat rooms at MGM Macau and MGM Cotai. Wonder if we can get the house edge on these bets?

when someone has bet the Banker, they can take insurance in the following situations

After revealing 4 cards

Banker has a 4, Player has 0-3, pays 1.5 to 1 on a Player win
Banker has a 5, Player has 0-4, pays 2 to 1 on a Player Win
Banker has a 6, Player has 0-5, pays 2.5 to 1 on a Player Win
Banker has a 7, Player has 0-5, pays 4.5 to 1 on a Player Win

After revealing the Players 3rd card

Banker has 1-6, Player has 0, pays 10 to 1 on a Tie
Banker has 2-6, Player has 1, pays 10 to 1 on a Player Win
Banker has 3-6, Player has 2, pays 4.5 to 1 on a Player Win
Banker has 4, Player has 3, pays 2.5 to 1 on a Player Win

when someone has bet the Player, they can take insurance in these situations

After 4 cards have been revealed

Player has 5, Banker has 0-4, pays 1 to 1 on a Banker win
Player has 6, Banker has 0-5, pays 2.5 to 1 on a Banker win
Player has 7, Banker has 0-5, pays 4.5 to 1 on a Banker win

After the reveal of the Players 3rd card

Player has 5, Banker has 0-4, pays 1.5 to 1 on a Banker win
Player has 6, Banker has 0-5, pays 2.5 to 1 on a Banker win
Player has 7, Banker has 0-6, pays 4.5 to 1 on a Banker win
Player has 8, Banker has 0-6, pays 10 to 1 on a Banker win
Player has 9, Banker has 0-6, pays 10 to 1 on a Tie


I am not sure about how much the insurance bet has to be, but it can be less than the original wager. I saw this excerpt in a news article about it.

“This player placed a HK$20,000 bet on Banker. After the four initial cards were revealed, Banker had a total of 6 points [and] Player had a total of five points … this triggered the insurance bet option with the screen at the table notifying the player that insurance bet on a Player win was available at a 2.5 to 1 payout.

“This player placed a HK$8000 bet on the Player insurance … after the third cards were dealt, Banker became the winner. The player was paid HK$20,000 for his original bet but he lost his insurance bet – this means the player was effectively paid 40% less on his winning hand."

Thanks in advance for any answers.