Look beneath the Big Road on any electronic baccarat scoreboard and you will see three smaller grids side by side: Big Eye Boy (hollow rings), Small Road (solid dots), and Cockroach Pig (diagonal slashes). Many players assume each grid uses its own complicated formula. In reality, all three roads run the exact same two rules—the only difference is how many Big Road columns back each grid looks.
Below is the side-by-side comparison of all three derived roads, traced on one 16-hand shoe you can step through in our free Baccarat Calculator & Road Decoder or master inside Modules 3–5 of our course.
Side-by-side comparison table
| Feature | Big Eye Boy | Small Road | Cockroach Pig |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lookback Distance (L) | L = 1 column back | L = 2 columns back | L = 3 columns back |
| Marker Shape | Hollow ring | Solid filled dot | Diagonal slash (/) |
| Earliest Starting Cell | Big Road Col 2, Row 2 (or Col 3, Row 1) | Big Road Col 3, Row 2 (or Col 4, Row 1) | Big Road Col 4, Row 2 (or Col 5, Row 1) |
| Rule 1 (Row 1 of Col c) | Compare depth(c−1) vs depth(c−2) | Compare depth(c−1) vs depth(c−3) | Compare depth(c−1) vs depth(c−4) |
| Rule 2 (Row r ≥ 2 of Col c) | Inspect Col (c−1) at Rows r & r−1 | Inspect Col (c−2) at Rows r & r−1 | Inspect Col (c−3) at Rows r & r−1 |
| What Red / Blue Mean | Red = repeats L=1; Blue = breaks L=1 | Red = repeats L=2; Blue = breaks L=2 | Red = repeats L=3; Blue = breaks L=3 |
Watch all three roads build on one 16-hand shoe
Here is a 16-hand sequence (9 Banker wins, 7 Player wins) whose 10 Big Road columns have depths 2, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1:
BBPBBPPBBPBBPPBP
Bead Plate
Big Road
Big Eye Boy
Small Road
Cockroach Pig
1. Why the three roads start on different hands
A derived road cannot plot its first mark until its reference column L steps to the left actually exists on the Big Road:
- Big Eye Boy (L=1) opens on Hand 4 (Column 3, Row 1): Because Column 2 (Player) only lasted 1 hand, Column 2 Row 2 never occurred. Big Eye Boy starts at Column 3, Row 1 under Rule 1, comparing Column 2 (depth 1) with Column 1 (depth 2) → Blue (different depth).
- Small Road (L=2) opens on Hand 5 (Column 3, Row 2): Continuing down Column 3 to Row 2 under Rule 2, Small Road looks 2 columns left at Column 1 (depth 2). Because Column 1 reached Row 2, both comparison cells exist → Red.
- Cockroach Pig (L=3) opens on Hand 7 (Column 4, Row 2): Continuing down Column 4 to Row 2 under Rule 2, Cockroach Pig looks 3 columns left at Column 1 (depth 2). Because Column 1 reached Row 2, both comparison cells exist → Red.
2. Why the three roads sometimes agree and sometimes disagree
Because each derived road measures symmetry at its own lookback distance L, the three grids can agree completely on one hand and split 2-to-1 on the very next hand:
- When all three agree (Hand 9, Column 5 Row 2): Column 5 reaches Row 2 under Rule 2. Looking 1, 2, and 3 columns back checks Column 4 (depth 2), Column 3 (depth 2), and Column 2 (depth 1). Columns 4 and 3 both reached Row 2, so Big Eye Boy and Small Road both mark Red, while Column 2 ended at Row 1, so Cockroach Pig marks Blue.
- Why Cockroach Pig runs 5 straight Reds at the end (Hands 12–16): Notice that the Big Road column depths in our shoe repeat a 4-column cycle (
2, 1, 2, 2then2, 1, 2, 2). Because Cockroach Pig compares 3 columns back (and Rule 1 compares finished columnc−1againstc−4, which is 3 columns earlier), every new column from Column 7 through Column 10 matches the depth of 3 columns earlier—producing five consecutive Red slashes on Cockroach Pig even while Big Eye Boy and Small Road flip between Red and Blue! - Next-hand split on Hand 17: After Hand 16 (Column 10, depth 1), if Banker wins Hand 17 (starting Column 11 at Row 1 under Rule 1), Column 10 (depth 1) is compared against Column 9 (depth 1 → Big Eye Boy = Red), Column 8 (depth 2 → Small Road = Blue), and Column 7 (depth 2 → Cockroach Pig = Blue).
Master all three derived roads step by step
Step through every hand of BBPBBPPBBPBBPPBP in the interactive sandbox below, or explore our 6-module Derived Roads curriculum (Module 1 is 100% free) to practice Big Eye Boy, Small Road, and Cockroach Pig side by side.