Super Pan 9

Super Pan 9 is a simple variation to the popular casino card game, Baccarat. Players familiar with baccarat can play this game, as it has a few rule and gameplay changes. This page will show you the basic Super Pan 9 rules that players should expect to find when playing. Learn how to play Super Pan 9 in just three easy steps using our guide. This game was created in California, USA and can only be found at brick-and-mortar casinos within that state. Those looking for specific online casinos, there are a few that offer it.

Learn the basic strategy behind Super Pan 9. As it plays just like baccarat, some of the strategies will be familiar to avid players. Get a brief history of how Sam Torosian created this game and how it may become popular.

Game Rules

As a direct offshoot of classic baccarat, Super Pan 9 utilizes the same scoring system and general gameplay rules as its predecessor. We’ll cover those rules here of course, but if you’re unfamiliar with baccarat on the basic level, we recommend starting with our main page for the game, before returning here to learn how Super Pan 9 stacks up to the original.

Game Overview

In Super Pan 9 the cards hold the same values as they do in baccarat, so Aces are valued at 1, 2s through 6s are valued at their numerical rank, and face cards (Js, Qs, Ks) are valued at 0.

Unlike baccarat, which provides players with two hands to wager on, Super Pan 9 pits the player against the dealer in a battle of baccarat hands. In another rule adjustment, Super Pan 9 starts players off with three cards, rather than two.

Card Values

In Super Pan 9 the cards hold the same values as they do in baccarat, so Aces are valued at 1, 2s through 6s are valued at their numerical rank, and face cards (Js, Qs, Ks) are valued at 0.

Unlike baccarat, which provides players with two hands to wager on, Super Pan 9 pits the player against the dealer in a battle of baccarat hands. In another rule adjustment, Super Pan 9 starts players off with three cards, rather than two.

Scoring System

In both games, however, the game is based on standing with strong totals, or drawing a card to improve, with the objective being to reach a higher combined card total than the dealer.

The classic baccarat scoring system is also in place, so combined card totals which reach double digits will have their leftmost digit removed to produce a final total. Thus, a 4/6/8 starting hand, which would ordinarily form an 18 total, would become an 8 total after removing the left-most digit.

One unique aspect of Super Pan 9, at least within the baccarat inspired family of games, is the use of player banking rather than house banking. In essence, rather than the house providing the bank which pays out winners collects on losers, this job is shared by all players at the table. The option to bank is passed around, and players can either accept or pass the option on. Bankers essentially become the dealer for the next hand, taking on each player’s hand individually with their own hand before settling all wins and losses.

Player banking is purely optional, so you won’t have to concern yourself with this aspect of the game unless you choose.

Playing Super Pan 9

We’ll run through the first stages of an example hand of Super Pan 9 to help illustrate the concepts described above.

1. Bank The Hand

   Somebody asks if we’d like to bank the hand, but we decline, so the next player over banks instead. He doesn’t need to make a wager, as he’s now playing against all other players at the table, including us. We put out a bet of $5 to begin the hand.
   
   We receive three cards face down, along with all other players, including the banker. Our hand is the 3 5 K, good for a strong 8 total (3 + 5 + 10 = 18, remove the leftmost digit = 8).

2. Stand Or Draw

   What makes Super Pan 9 such an entertaining game and a refreshing addition to the world of baccarat is that players have more to do than simply watch the tableau be enforced and the totals compared. Instead, in this game, you’ll face a player decision point after examining your three cards starting hand: Stand or Draw.
   
   – STAND: you elect to hold firm on your current total, believing it to be best against the dealer’s eventual holding.
   – DRAW: you elect to take one more card from the deck, which is then added to your current total to form your final hand total.
   
   We’ve landed a powerful 8 total, better than all totals except for a 9. We stand, hoping the dealer doesn’t run pure and catch an 8 or 9 total.

3. Banker Move

   Once all non-banker players have made this decision, the banker will then make the same choice between standing or drawing another card. After that, the showdown occurs, with each non-banker player hand compared to the banker’s hand.

The Winner

The highest total is declared the winner, and winning player wagers are paid out at even money. Tied totals result in your Ante bet being returned as a push, and you’ll lose it when the banker produces a superior total.

Try Playing With a Simulator

Practice makes perfect, so we recommend you try the free play options at online casinos. Take a few free hands to get used to playing this baccarat variant. The game operates exactly as you’d expect to find in an online casino, and the rules are copied directly from the version found in California’s brick-and-mortar casinos, so it provides the perfect practice tool to help beginners get the hang of Super Pan 9 – without having to risk a single penny.

Best Places to Play

Due to the unique nature of gaming laws and tribal compacts in California require certain venues to spread only “pari-mutuel” table games, the state relies on player banked games like it’s many no bust blackjack variants, and Super Pan 9.

The player banking feature is unique to California and a few other states, so you’ll generally find Super Pan 9 confined to the Golden State.

The game is primarily a product of Los Angeles County, where the famed Bicycle Casino and Commerce Casino have served card players since the 1980s. Super Pan 9 is a staple in the L.A. County casinos, but just like California No Bust Blackjack, it has spread throughout much of California as well.

You can find Super Pan 9 tables running in the Bay 101 Casino, for example, which is located near San Jose. To help keep you covered, we’ve compiled a list of every casino and card room in California, including information on city and county. The L.A. county venues have been bolded to make them easier to find, and you can also use a CTRL+F search to scan the list for your home county to find all of the gambling establishments operating in your area.

US Casinos

We can’t guarantee that every property listed here carries Super Pan 9, but considering the game’s long history within the state of California, it’s quite likely that most of them will at least have a table devoted to this regional favorite.

US Online Casinos

In addition to the brick and mortar casinos listed here, you can also find Super Pan 9 playable via the internet, through any PlayPearls powered online casino. Playpearls is a boutique software provider serving a small collection of online casino brands.

As such, the overall reputation if Playpearls client casinos cannot be entirely vouched for, so take caution to conduct proper research on each of the platforms listed below:

Super Pan 9 Strategy

As the game is based on a binary stand/draw strategy, the accepted basic strategy for Super Pan 9 can be broken down into a few simple rules on how to approach this all-important decision.

When acting as a player, and not the banker, you should draw another card when holding any total between 0 and 5; and stand on totals between 6 and 9.

When acting as the banker, and not the player, your decision will depend on how the player has previously acted. Note, however, that this strategy applies only to one on one, or heads up, play between a single banker and a single player:

As for the banker strategy when playing against more than one player hand, this strategy can be a bit more complicated, but experts generally agree on the following approach:

You should stand when holding any total between 0 and 5; draw when holding totals between 7 and 9; and when holding a 6 total, you should act in the opposite way of the player who has the largest bet put up.

Other Super Pan 9 Strategies

The other way to give yourself a strategic advantage while playing Super Pan 9 involves game selection.

Because each casino decides on the amount of decks to place in the shoe – usually between eight and 16 running in increments of two decks at a time – players who know what to look for can eke out the tiniest off edges over the house.

Simply put, the more decks in the shoe, the smaller the house edge working against you. Players judge casino games based on the house edge, or the built-in advantage inherent to each wager based on payout relative to the probability of winning.

Super Pan 9 House Edge x Deck Amount

As you can see by reviewing the table below, finding a Super Pan 9 table running a 16 deck shoe can reduce the house edge on the fractional level:

Super Pan 9 History

The name Sam Torosian is legendary with casino gambling and table game circles, as the former California card club owner revolutionized the way players enjoy a deck of cards.

In 1985, as owner and operator of the Bell Card Club, Torosian stumbled upon the innovation of a lifetime, combining the obscure ancient Chinese tile game known as pai gow with poker cards to produce Pai Gow Poker. Extremely popular among California’s thriving Asian American community, pai gow was widely played in local casinos, including Torosian’s Bell.

Torosian’s new game, which replaced the unfamiliar tile system with standard playing cards, became an immediate sensation. But even with a hit on his hands, Torosian’s invention occurred at a time when casino game design was not yet a burgeoning industry. After consulting with a friend who worked as an attorney, Torosian was told that he couldn’t file a patent to protect a card game.

The advice proved to be incorrect, thus creating one of the most infamous blunders the casino gambling industry’s long history. Pai Gow Poker spread like wildfire throughout American casinos and abroad, and Torosian missed out on millions of dollars in licensing fees and royalties.

Torosian managed to land on his feet while continuing his dual career as both a casino operator and a game inventor, but he may not have learned any lessons from the Pai Gow Poker debacle. Today, he is unofficially listed, along with Fred Wolf, as the inventor of a clever baccarat variant known as Super Pan 9.

Alternate Names for Super Pan 9

Alternately titled Pan 9 or Lucky Pan 9, this game expands on the age-old gambling game of baccarat with the inclusion of a few innovative rule adjustments. The deck includes fewer cards, 36 in total with the 7s, 8s, 9s, and 10s removed. Players engage in battle with the dealer based on the usual baccarat scoring system and drawing rules, but begin with a three card starting hand rather than two.

The game has been a staple of the California casino scene since the late 1980’s, gaining widespread popularity there due to the state’s requirement that many venues limit their table game operations to “pari-mutuel” wagering only. In effect, the house cannot bank table games in certain jurisdictions, so “player banked” games like Super Pan 9 have been devised as an ingenious workaround. Blackjack fans will note that California No Bust Blackjack provides useful player banked alternative to traditional twenty-one.

Some 30 years after hitting the California card room scene, Super Pan 9 remains a beloved game enjoyed by casino gamblers, particular in Los Angeles county, but all over the state as well.

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