Microgaming adds No Commission Baccarat and Sic Bo to their casinos

Alongside a number of different exclusivity deals with slots development studios, Microgaming has also signed a deal with casino game developer Switch Studios to revamp their casino game offerings.

We have already seen a number of different games released through this partnership, including variations on European Roulette, American Roulette and Sapphire Roulette, and European Blackjack, but last week Microgaming also released another two games to add to their growing selection of casino game offerings.

The two latest games were the popular card game Baccarat, the game that James Bond originally played in Ian Fleming's Casino Royale and the hugely entertaining dice game Sic Bo, which is especially popular in Asian countries, but which is growing quickly in popularity in other parts of the world.

In this article, we are going to take a quick look at both the new games and explain a little about how you can play them and what the general idea of each game is. With both games not being quite so popular in more western casinos, many players may not have tried them as yet and if you haven't, then you are missing out on two cracking casino games.

Let us begin by taking a look at the first of the two games released last week, No Commission Baccarat.

How do I play No Commission Baccarat?

Although maybe not as familiar to many people as Blackjack, Baccarat is an incredibly simple game to understand once you have grasped the basics of how the game works. The key thing to remember is that Baccarat isn't a game you play against the house (although it is set up as Player Vs Banker), you don't need to beat the Banker's hand to win, you just need to back the correct bet to be a winner!

The key aspect of Baccarat is that it is a counting game and the aim of the game is for players to back the person who will score more points than their opponent, the banker, the player, or whether the result of the game will be a tie.

The points you can land range from 0 to 9 and there is one important thing to note with Baccarat and that is the notion of 'counting on' when your score reaches 10 or more.

In Baccarat you work out the number of points in your hand by adding the value of your two cards together. The Card Values are as standard with an Ace being 1 through to the 10, Jack, Queen and King all being valued at 10.

However, if your total points exceed ten, then you simply discount the 'tens' part of the total to get your score. For example, if your two cards were a seven and a queen. This totals 17, so you knock off the '1' to get a score of 7. If you landed a seven and a five, this totals 12, so you would then have a score of 2 when you take the 1 off your score.

Once you understand this, the game is exceptionally easy to follow as there are only three bets you can make. You can back the Player to Win, the Banker to win, or you can back the tie.

However, in No Commission Baccarat, there are two additional side bets you can make in addition to the game outcome bets. You can bet on either the Banker or the Player landing a pair in their card selections.

The only other rules to remember are regarding the drawing of cards. If you get a points total of 8 or 9, then that player must stand and cannot draw another card and the outcome of the game is decided on the first four cards drawn.

If neither player has a hand of 8 or 9 points and If the player has a total of 5 or less, then the player will hit and receive a third card. Their scores are then compared to see who wins.

If the player stands, but the banker has a score of 5 or less, then the Banker will then draw a third card and after this the scores are compared to see who is the winner.

One nice feature of this form of Baccarat is that if the player and banker draw, and you did not bet on the draw outcome, rather than lose your bet, your bet money is returned to you. This 'no commission' rule is favourable for players who will at least get their money back in the event of a game finishing in a tie and them not betting on that outcome.

If you back the player or banker to win, and they do, then you receive an even money return on your bet. However, if you back the tie and you are correct, this returns at 8/1. The Banker Pair and Player Pair bets both pay out at 11/1.

Of course, in No Commission Baccarat, the game is controlled by the software, so even if your first few hands you aren't quite sure of how it all works, the game is so easy to follow that after a few hands, you recognise what is happening and it is very easy to play from there on wards.

One nice touch is that if you back the Player or Banker, you automatically are able to view the cards of the player you backed. Unless you back the tie, in which case both sets of cards are revealed automatically.

No Commission Baccarat is a very favourable format of the game for players but with enough variation in the form of the Player and Banker Pair bets to offer players a little more excitement. Beautifully presented and with clear to follow instructions, it is a perfect choice either for someone new to Baccarat, or someone who is a more experienced player of this popular casino game.

However, just a few days after this game was released, a second game from Switch Studios hit casinos and this time, it was based on an all-time dice game classic.

What is Sic Bo and how do I play it?

Sic Bo is a dice game that is about predicting what the outcome of a roll of three dice will be. The game is similar to roulette in many respects as players place their bets on a layout that offers a wide choice of different bets of different odds. Once they have placed their bet or bets on the layout, the player can the roll the dice to see what the outcome is. After the dice come to rest, the winning bets are paid out and the layout then cleared ready for the next game.

Sic Bo really is as simple as it sounds and the only thing you need to understand about the game is the betting rules and what each type of bet is on the layout.

You can back a huge choice of bets on the game with a wide variety of odds available from even money bets up to massive 180/1 shots.

Let's look at the different bets you can make in Sic Bo:

• Small/Big - These are two even money bets based on the total value of the three dice rolled. If you back small, you need to have a value between 4 and 10 to win, back Big and the value needs to be between 11 and 17 to win. However, if you roll either a triple one, or a triple six, then these are excluded from the payouts.
• One Dice Bet - This is a bet on one or more of the dice rolling one of the six numbers shown on the dice. Back your number and if it appears once on your roll you win an even money bet, if it appears twice, you win 2/1 and tree times, you win at 12/1.
• Two Dice Combination - This is a bet on two different value numbers coming up on two of the three dice in the roll. If you select correctly, then this will pay out at odds of 6/1.
• Double - This is a bet on two dice coming to rest on the same value. If you make this bet it has potential winning odds of 11/1.
• Triple - This is the big money bet. Back all three dice to show the same single number on each dice and if you pick the right selection here you can win at odds of 180/1. You can also back a lower value Any Triple bet which pays out if any triple number is landed on a throw at odds of 31/1.
• Total Value Rolled Bets - With this section of bets, you can place a bet on what the total value of the three dice will be on any given roll. The odds on offer are as follows 62/1 for totals of 4 or 17, 31/1 for 5 and 16, 18/1, for 6 and 15, 12/1 for 7 and 14, 8/1 for 8 and 13, 7/1 for 9 and 12 and 6/1 for 10 and 11. Obviously the more possible ways you can land a total value listed above, determines the size of the payout with the more ways available meaning the smaller the odds on that bet.

You simply decide which bet or bets you want to make on the layout and place your chips on the chosen bets as you would in Roulette. When ready you will be prompted to roll the dice to see whether your bets are a winner or not.

What is great about Switch Studios version of Sic Bo is that it is so easy to play even if you have never played the game before. It really is a game you can play for a couple of demo hands and then fully grasp what the game is and what the betting options are available to you. Add to that some lovely animations of the dice roll, easy to follow betting and some nice sound effects and you have a game that will appeal to brand new Sic Bo fans, as well as players who are more experienced with the game too.

Having already released a number of high quality casino games for Microgaming, Switch Studios have come up trumps once again with their two new releases, which are available to play at Microgaming casinos right now.