Sand China rolls out new, four-tier linked progressive jackpot for mass baccarat play at Cotai properties

Macau casino operator Sands China Ltd has launched a new, four-tier linked progressive jackpot for live-baccarat wagers at the mass gaming floors of its Cotai properties. The offer went live from Thursday (September 24) afternoon, according to GGRAsia’s site checks and industry sources. The launch coincides with the eve of the lunar calendar-based Mid-Autumn Festival, which on the Chinese mainland is designated as running from September 25 to 27. The festive period is just three days ahead of the week-long National Day holiday (October 1 to 7), also known as October Golden Week. In marketing broadcasts aired on the gaming floors, the jackpot feature is described as “pioneered” by Sands China. Based on GGRAsia’s observations, Sands China is offering a new baccarat-table layout to accommodate the new linked progressive jackpot feature. Gamblers can wager to win it via a clearly-marked red circle. As of Thursday afternoon, the jackpot feature was available in the “Mass Red Dragon Game Zone” and the high-limits baccarat area at The Venetian Macao. It was also at, respectively: The Plaza casino; the high-limits area of The Parisian Macao casino; and at The Londoner Casino and the Londoner Grand Casino. The latter two are the main gaming areas of The Londoner Macao resort. Via the new offer, customers can attempt to win a four-tier progressive jackpot via a designated bet denomination of HKD200 (US$25.5). The amount is uniform across all the casino operator’s Cotai properties, and is marketed as a distinct side bet option, with specific conditions. Tiered offer The top-tier “Grand” bonus –amounting to just above HKD15 million as of GGRAsia’s Thursday afternoon visit – is triggered when the ‘player’ hand wins on a total of seven points versus a ‘banker’ hand of six points via a total of six cards. The ‘player’ hand must be formed solely by cards in the ‘diamonds’ suit, while the ‘banker’ hand must be formed solely by ‘spades’. The second-tier “Major” bonus – amounting to 5 percent of the linked progressive jackpot prize pool – is triggered when a ‘player’ hand wins on a total of seven points over a ‘banker’ hand of six points from a total of six cards. The ‘player’ hand must be formed solely by cards of the same red suit – either ‘hearts’ or ‘diamonds’ – while the ‘banker’ hand must be formed solely by cards of the same black suit – either ‘spades’ or ‘clubs’. The third-tier “Minor” bonus – a fixed cash prize of HKD16,000 – can be triggered when a ‘player’ hand wins on seven points over a ‘banker’ hand on six points with a total of four or five cards, and that the ‘player’ hand is formed solely by cards of a red suit while the banker’s hand is formed solely by cards of a black suit. The fourth-tier “Mini” bonus – a fixed cash prize of HKD8,000 – is triggered when a ‘player’ hand is formed solely by cards of a red suit and the ‘banker’ hand is formed solely by cards of black suit, regardless of the outcome of a six-card hand. The progressive jackpot wager is presented as a side bet option on Sands China’s ‘smart’ baccarat tables, which also contains other side bets, namely, ‘Lucky Six’, ‘Small/Big Six’, and the two-card and three-card ‘Lucky 7’ and ‘Super Lucky 7’. On Thursday afternoon, the minimum bets of the main baccarat betting propositions across Sands China’s Cotai properties mostly ranged from HKD1,000 to HKD2,000 on the main floors, and between HKD2,000 to HKD3,000 for the high-limit zones. Side bets in the casino operator’s Cotai properties were mostly priced between HKD200 to HKD300, indicated GGRAsia’s checks. Sands China had started implementing in July last year a special two-tier progressive jackpot for wagers on the side bet combinations of Lucky 6 and Lucky 7 across its premium and mass-market gaming floors across the city. That bonus feature eventually ended in March this year, GGRAsia understood from earlier site checks.