EZ Baccarat — Rules, Odds, and What Dragon 7 and Panda 8 Really Pay
EZ Baccarat is the commission-free version of punto banco you will see in many casinos and live dealer lobbies. The cards, the totals and the third-card rule are exactly the same as in the standard game. Only one thing changes on the main bets: instead of taking 5% from every Banker win, the table pushes (returns) a Banker bet when the Banker wins with a three-card total of 7. That single hand is called the Dragon 7, and EZ tables sell a side bet on it, plus a second one on the Panda 8. This page gives the exact odds of every EZ bet, worked hands, and how often each event shows up in a shoe. All figures come from a full enumeration of every card order in an 8-deck shoe (6 decks shown where it differs).
EZ Baccarat rules in five lines
- Player pays 1 to 1, exactly as at a standard table.
- Banker pays 1 to 1 with no commission — except a Banker win with three cards totalling 7, which is a push.
- Tie pays as posted on the felt, usually 8 to 1; Player and Banker bets push on a tie.
- Dragon 7 (side bet) pays 40 to 1 when Banker wins with a three-card 7.
- Panda 8 (side bet) pays 25 to 1 when Player wins with a three-card 8.
Some tables add further side bets with their own pay tables. Read the felt before you sit — the payouts printed there are what count.
EZ Baccarat odds for every bet
| Bet | Pays | Wins (per round) | House edge (8 decks) | Average loss per 1,000 staked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banker (EZ) | 1 to 1, three-card 7 pushes | 43.61% paid + 2.25% push | 1.02% (1.0183%) | 10.18 |
| Player | 1 to 1 | 44.62% | 1.24% | 12.35 |
| Tie 8 to 1 | 8 to 1 | 9.52% | 14.36% | 143.60 |
| Dragon 7 | 40 to 1 | 2.25% | 7.61% | 76.11 |
| Panda 8 | 25 to 1 | 3.45% | 10.19% | 101.88 |
With 6 decks the EZ Banker edge is 1.0161%, Dragon 7 7.6062% and Panda 8 10.2074% — the same to two decimals. The headline: EZ Banker is the lowest-edge main bet of the common versions, slightly better than the standard 5% commission Banker (1.0579%) and much better than the "no commission, 6 pays half" table (1.4581%). The side bets are a different story.
Why the push on a three-card 7 replaces the commission
Without any fee, the Banker bet would give the bettor an edge of +1.235%, because Banker wins 45.86% of rounds and Player only 44.62%. Every commission-free table therefore has to take something back. EZ Baccarat does it by refusing to pay one specific winning hand. A Banker win with three cards totalling 7 happens in 2.2534% of rounds — only 4.91% of all Banker wins — and turning those wins into pushes costs the bettor almost exactly what the 5% commission did.
In practice this means about 11.77% of EZ Banker bets come back to you unchanged (9.52% ties plus 2.25% Dragon 7 pushes), 43.61% are paid in full, and the rest lose. Measured only on bets that are settled (pushes removed), the EZ Banker edge is 1.1541%.
Worked hands
- Dragon 7. Player J + 6 = 6, stands. Banker 2 + 3 = 5, and since the Player stood, Banker draws on 0–5: a 2 arrives, Banker has 7. Banker wins 7 against 6 with three cards. A Banker bet pushes, a Player bet loses, and a Dragon 7 bet is paid 40 to 1.
- Panda 8. Player 4 + A = 5, draws a 3 for 8. Banker Q + 7 = 7, which always stands. Player wins 8 against 7 with three cards. Player bets are paid 1 to 1 and a Panda 8 bet is paid 25 to 1.
- Ordinary Banker 7. Player 3 + 3 = 6, Banker 5 + 2 = 7 on two cards. No one draws, Banker wins. At an EZ table a $25 Banker bet is paid $25; at a commission table it would be paid $23.75. The push applies only to a three-card 7.
The drawing rules that decide when that third card arrives are laid out with frequencies in baccarat third card rules.
Baccarat: what is a Panda?
"Panda" is simply the nickname for the Panda 8 hand — the Player winning with a three-card total of 8 — and for the side bet that pays on it. It mirrors the Dragon 7 on the Banker side. The Panda pays less (25 to 1 instead of 40 to 1) because it is more common: 3.4543% of rounds, about 1 in 28.9, against 2.2534% (about 1 in 44.4) for the Dragon 7. A "panda" has nothing to do with the Banker bet; it only matters if you placed the Panda 8 side bet.
How often Dragon 7 and Panda 8 appear in a shoe
| Event | Per round | About 1 in | Per 80-round shoe | Shoes with none | Fair payout | Actual payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dragon 7 | 2.2534% | 44.4 | 1.80 | 16.1% | 43.38 to 1 | 40 to 1 |
| Panda 8 | 3.4543% | 28.9 | 2.76 | 6.0% | 27.95 to 1 | 25 to 1 |
The "fair payout" is what the bet would have to pay for the house to make nothing. The gap between fair and actual is the edge: paying 40 instead of 43.38 on the Dragon costs 7.61% of every stake; paying 25 instead of 27.95 on the Panda costs 10.19%. Roughly one shoe in six has no Dragon 7 at all, so a bettor who places it on every hand of such a shoe loses about 80 units at one unit per hand.
A 100-hand example at 10 per hand
Expected results for 100 hands at 10 per bet, using the edges above (average outcome, not a prediction for any one session):
| Bet placed every hand | Total staked | Average loss |
|---|---|---|
| EZ Banker | 1,000 | 10.18 |
| Standard Banker (5% commission) | 1,000 | 10.58 |
| Player | 1,000 | 12.35 |
| Dragon 7 | 1,000 | 76.11 |
| Panda 8 | 1,000 | 101.88 |
Adding both side bets to a Banker bet on every hand multiplies the average cost of the session by roughly eighteen. The main-bet difference between EZ and a commission table (0.40 per 1,000) is real but tiny next to that.
Is EZ Baccarat better than regular baccarat?
On the main bets, marginally yes for Banker and identical for Player. It is also simpler to deal and to follow — nobody has to work out 5% of an odd stake (how commission is calculated and rounded is covered on baccarat commission explained). What EZ Baccarat does not do is change the result of any round: the next hand is not more or less likely to be a Dragon because the last one was. Dragon 7s and Pandas in your own shoes can be logged with the free Baccarat Scoreboard app, which marks both hand by hand, and the live baccarat tracker shows real tables as they deal. Neither can tell you when the next one will land.
For the other commission-free formats and the speed, mini and live versions, see baccarat variants; for pairs and the Dragon Bonus, see baccarat side bets.
EZ Baccarat FAQ
What does EZ mean in baccarat? It is the name of the commission-free format: Banker pays even money, and the only exception is a push when Banker wins with a three-card 7.
Does a two-card Banker 7 push in EZ Baccarat? No. Only a winning Banker total of 7 made with three cards pushes. A two-card 7 that wins is paid 1 to 1.
What happens to my Banker bet on a Dragon 7? It is returned to you — neither won nor lost. Only the separate Dragon 7 side bet is paid.
Is the Panda 8 better than the Dragon 7? No. Dragon 7 has a 7.61% edge and Panda 8 10.19%. Both are far more expensive than the main bets.
Can I bet Dragon 7 and Panda 8 in the same round? Yes at most tables, but both cannot win: one needs Banker to win, the other Player.
Is there a strategy that beats EZ Baccarat? No betting pattern changes the edges above. Tracking dealt cards can, in theory, find rare late-shoe spots on Dragon 7, but they are too infrequent to matter at a normal table.
Method: exact enumeration of all card orders in 8-deck and 6-deck shoes under standard punto banco drawing rules, EZ payouts as listed above (Baccarat Terminal, October 2026). Pay tables can differ by table. 18+. Information only — not a gambling service and not betting advice.