The side bet sitting next to the main game
You sit down at a baccarat table and see two extra circles marked P Bonus and B Bonus near the usual Player and Banker spots. They are not part of the base game. They are optional wagers that pay only when the hand you backed wins by a wide enough margin, and they settle on their own terms regardless of what happens to your main bet.
This matters because a baccarat table can look simple—two main hands, one decision—while the felt carries several side bets with very different mathematics. P Bonus and B Bonus are among the most common. Understanding them means knowing what triggers a win, how the payout scale works, and why the house edge on these circles is not the same as the edge on the main Player or Banker bet.
How a round reaches the bonus decision
Baccarat is a comparing card game between two hands: the Player hand and the Banker hand. Totals are taken modulo 10, so a 9 and a 7 make 6, not 16. The hand closer to 9 wins. The main bets are Player, Banker, and Tie, and the Banker, Player, and Tie bets carry different house edges, with the Tie bet the highest.
A round moves from buy-in to settlement in a fixed sequence. You buy chips at the cage or from the dealer, place any main wager before the cards are dealt, and then watch the draw rules play out. The Player hand draws according to one fixed rule, the Banker hand according to another that depends partly on the Player's third card. Once both hands are complete, the dealer compares totals, pays winning main bets, and then settles any side bets, including P Bonus and B Bonus if the table offers them.
The bonus circles are independent of the main game in one important sense: you can win the main bet and lose the bonus, lose the main bet and win the bonus, or win both. They are separate contracts with separate conditions.
What P Bonus and B Bonus pay on
P Bonus pays when the Player hand wins by a margin of four or more points, or in some rule sets when the Player wins with a natural or a large total. B Bonus does the same for the Banker hand. The exact trigger and payout scale are printed on the table layout or in the game's information panel, and they differ between venues and software providers.
The typical structure awards a larger payout for a bigger winning margin. A win by exactly four or five points might pay a small multiple of the stake, while a win by nine points pays a much larger multiple. Some versions also pay on a natural win, meaning a two-card total of 8 or 9, even if the margin is small. Because the scale varies, the only reliable way to know what a specific table pays is to read the printed layout before you put chips on the circle.
Here is how the two side bets compare in structure:
| Feature | P Bonus | B Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Backs which hand | Player | Banker |
| Wins when | Player wins by a set margin, or with a natural under some rules | Banker wins by a set margin, or with a natural under some rules |
| Payout structure | Tiered by winning margin; printed on the layout | Tiered by winning margin; printed on the layout |
| Relationship to main bet | Independent settlement | Independent settlement |
| Edge profile | Higher than the main Player bet | Higher than the main Banker bet |
The payout tiers are the part most players misread. A table might print a long list of margins and multiples, and a player who glances at the top number can walk away expecting a payout the rules do not grant for the hand they saw. Read the full scale, not just the largest figure.
Why the edge on a bonus bet is different
House edge and RTP are complements: they sum to 100% for the same game. The main baccarat bets have a relatively low house edge, which is part of why the game attracts serious players. Side bets like P Bonus and B Bonus do not share that profile. They are designed around rarer events—a hand winning by a large margin—and the payout scale is set so that the operator's mathematical advantage on the side bet is larger than on the main wager.
That does not make the side bet a mistake. It makes it a different instrument. A player who wants the lowest expected loss per unit wagered will concentrate on the main bets. A player who accepts a higher expected loss in exchange for the chance at a larger, rarer payout may find the bonus circles interesting. What matters is knowing which one you are making.
Volatility is the other difference. A side bet that pays only on wide-margin wins will hit less often than the main bet, and when it hits, it can pay a multiple of the stake. That is high volatility: rarer but larger payouts. Volatility does not change a game's RTP, but it changes how a session feels, and it changes how long a given bankroll lasts under the same total wagered.
Decision points at the table
The main decision in baccarat is which main bet to place, and whether to add any side bet. There is no strategy chart for baccarat in the way blackjack has published basic-strategy charts, because the player makes no decisions after the cards are dealt. The draw rules are fixed. Your control is limited to bet selection, stake sizing, and session length.
That makes the pre-deal moment the only decision point. Before you place a P Bonus or B Bonus wager, check three things on the layout: the minimum and maximum stake for the side bet, the full payout scale, and whether a natural win qualifies. Some tables require a separate minimum for side bets, and some cap the side bet at a fraction of the main wager. Those limits are printed on the felt or in the game panel.
One procedural habit worth forming: settle your main bet and your side bet as separate line items in your own head. A player who lumps them together can misread a losing session as a winning one, or vice versa. The main bet and the bonus bet have different hit rates and different edges, and tracking them separately is the only way to know what each one did.
Where the exact rules live
Because P Bonus and B Bonus are table-specific, no single payout scale applies everywhere. The authoritative source is the table itself. On a physical table, the payout scale is printed on the layout near the bonus circles. On an online table, the game's information or help panel lists the trigger conditions and the full tiered payout. Read that panel before the first hand, not after a disputed settlement.
If the table offers a version where the bonus pays on naturals, the scale will say so. If it pays only on margins of four or more, that will also be stated. The difference changes both the hit frequency and the house edge, so two tables that look identical can carry materially different side bets.
When in doubt, ask the dealer or the live-chat host to point to the printed rule. A clear table will have the answer visible. A table where nobody can show you the rule is a table to leave alone.
FAQ
Can I bet P Bonus without betting on the Player hand?
At most tables, yes. The side bet is a separate wager with its own conditions, and it settles based on the hand it names, not on whether you placed the corresponding main bet. Check the table's minimums, because some layouts require a main wager before any side bet is accepted.
Does a natural win always trigger the bonus?
Not always. Some rule sets pay the bonus only when the winning margin is large enough, and a natural 8 beating a 7 wins by only one point. Other versions explicitly include naturals in the payout scale. The printed layout or game panel is the only reliable source for the table you are playing.
Is the P Bonus bet better than the B Bonus bet?
Neither is better in an absolute sense. They back different hands and carry different payout scales, and the house edge on each is set by the specific table rules. The Banker hand wins slightly more often in the base game, but the bonus trigger and payout scale can differ enough that no general statement holds across all tables.
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