We covered a lot about Baccarat in our How to Play Baccarat guide. So, this article is dedicated to baccarat strategy tips for players who want to learn more about the game and find the way to their baccarat strategy.
Baccarat tables are very popular worldwide, both in land-based casinos and online casinos. The board game has become a favourite among experienced and beginner players.
One of the most popular card games in the world is Baccarat. The board game has become a favourite among experienced and beginner players.
History
Baccarat’s history goes as far back as the 15th century when an Italian gambler named Felix Falguierein invented and designed the game.
The name comes from the Italian word baccarat, which means “zero”. This is reflected here in that all picture cards or the number ten have a value equal to zero.
Baccarat made its way to France, where it was named Chemin de Fer. This is a variant of Baccarat en Banque. Further beyond the 19th and 20th centuries, it spread further into Europe and later to Las Vegas.
If you have the right baccarat game strategy when you play, this can help to increase your bankroll. You can also increase your chances of winning and take your gaming to a new level.
Guide on how to win at baccarat
Baccarat is a game that has a very low house edge. This means there is a greater probability that the player will win, which is one of the reasons why the game is well-liked.
It is important to note that this is a game of chance, which means no one can predict who will win. Nevertheless, there are some tips, tricks and strategies you can take advantage of to try and improve your chances of winning.
Play Baccarat Online
Let’s quickly review how the game works before introducing different baccarat strategies.
Two things to keep in mind when playing Baccarat:
- No prior knowledge or skills are required to get started.
- Each hand in the card game has only three possible outcomes.
Generally, three to six standard decks of 52 playing cards are used in Baccarat, but some variants use eight decks. All the cards are shuffled and then placed in a dealer machine called the “shoe”.
The croupier plays a prominent role during the game, such as dealing cards from the shoe. On the other hand, as a player, you need to place your bet and let the cards play out.
The first thing you need to do when playing Baccarat is to place your bet. There are three betting systems here:
- Banker Bet
- Player Bet
- Tie Bet
When placing your bet, remember that this will reflect any winnings you may receive. If you bet high, you will also be able to receive a higher profit.
After placing your bet, the croupier will deal two cards to each player. Two cards are also handed out to the bank. All dealt cards are placed face down. The aim is to guess which hand has a combined value as close to 9 as possible.
Card Values
The different playing cards have different values:
- Cards with 2-9 have the values written on the card
- Tens and picture cards, so-called face cards, have a numerical value equal to zero
- All aces count as 1.
When the cards are dealt, each player must calculate the values of their cards. This determines the value of the hand you are sitting with.
For example, if a player has one card with the number 2 and one Q (queen), the hand will be worth 2 points because the Q has a value equal to zero. On the other hand, if the banker has cards 3 and 5, the banker’s hand is worth 8 points. Therefore, in this case, the bank will win the game if no other players have a combined value corresponding to 9.
Should the sum of a hand be more than 9, the points will be adjusted by subtracting 10. Another way in which this number is adjusted is by the first digit of the sum being crossed out. For example, cards 9 and 6 will not add up to 15, but 5.
A third card
Having more than three cards in hand per player is impossible. Whether the bank or player can receive a third card at all, called a drawcard, is also individual for each casino. If a player’s hand is lower than 5 points, it may be possible to draw a third card. The following banking rules apply when the player has been dealt a third card:
- The bank draws a third card when the total value of two cards is between 0–4, leaving a total of 5–7.
- If the player draws a card with four or five as a third card, the banker draws a third card when the total is between 0–5, leaving a total value of six or seven.
- Should the player draw a six or seven as a third card, the banker is forced to draw with a total value between 0–6, leaving a total of seven.
- If the player draws an eight as a third card, the banker will draw a third card only, with a total of two cards between zero and two. It will thus stand with a total of 3–7.
Betting system
There are several ways in which you can win and be paid out winnings in Baccarat. This is what is referred to as baccarat betting systems.
Player Hand Bets
You win so-called player hand bets if your hand is closest to the value 9. The hand you want to play out must be closer to the banks. This win can pay double or even, i.e. 1:1. This means that if, for example, you have played with a bet of $2 per player, you will win $4. The winnings are shared if you are equal to another player or the bank. You will thus be left with $2.
Banker bets
If you bet on a bank hand, a so-called banker bet, and it turns out to be a win formula, you will be paid the banker’s win minus 5%, which goes to the house for commission.
Tie Bets
In the case of a tie bet, you are betting that the banker’s and the player’s hands will end up with the same identical value. The tie bet gives the highest return, as a winning hand like this will pay out 8:1 or even 9:1 in your favour. This means that if you bet $2 and win, you will get a payout of $16. In addition, you will keep your original bet of $2.
Overall, playing Baccarat is considered to be one of the safest casino games to bet on. It is nevertheless the case that some bets or bets are better than others. Choosing to bet on tie bets can be very tempting, but this bet also has a lower probability of winning.
Compared to, for example, the banker bet, which has a payout of 1:1 and a house edge of 1.06%, tie bets have the largest payout. This will multiply your original stake by eight times. However, this betting type also has the worst winning odds. The house advantage with this form of betting is a whopping 14.36%.
The ultimate point here is that a tie bet should not be part of your best baccarat strategies and should rather be avoided. The chances of both hands landing an identical value are very slim.
Banker Betting Baccarat Strategy
If you’re not a complete stranger when it comes to playing Baccarat, chances are you’ve heard that the winning baccarat strategy is the banker bet.
Betting on the bank winning turns out to be a working baccarat strategy. Nevertheless, it is essential to note that no strategy can be completely safe in gambling on any casino game. By adopting this strategy, you will still, in theory, win more times than you lose.
Theoretically, the house edge is 1.06% when you choose to bet on the bank. The player’s return, or RTP, and the payout percentage for banker games, is a whopping 98.94%. You will thus have a high probability of winning.
It is important to remember that this calculation is theoretical, but if you bet a hundred times on $10, you will be able to receive a profit of over $980.
Why is this baccarat strategy profitable?
It will pay to bet on the bank and use this as a winning betting strategy because it goes beyond the house advantage, the so-called house edge. Odds of winning, i.e. the player’s RTP, will also be affected.
Let’s take a closer look at this baccarat strategy.
Suppose the casino uses eight standard decks with 52 playing cards per deck. In that case, the calculation will be as follows:
- Tie bets payout 8:1
- Banker bets pay the banker’s profit minus 5% in commission
- Player hand bets pay out 1:1
With this in mind, we can say that player hand bets lose 45.87% of the time, while they win 44.63% of the time. There is a draw in 9.51% of cases. On the other hand, if we look at bank bets, 44.65% are lost, while they win 45.87%. A draw is played in 9.51% of cases.
If we remove all tied hands from this calculation, we see that bank bets lose by 49.32%. However, it wins with 50.68%. In other words, the banker’s hand is more likely to win than the player’s. This is something the bank and the casino know about. Therefore, a 5% commission is added as an attempt to equalize the winning odds.
Nevertheless, this fee will not make this a less good strategy. The numbers rarely lie, and the money is often safest in the bank.
Most Common Baccarat Strategy
Without eliminating draw bets, it may be wise to look at other strategies. Baccarat strategies are used when players want to achieve a more extended series of winning hands, a so-called winning streak, with their baccarat betting.
It is nevertheless worth mentioning here that these are only strategies. In theory, a baccarat betting strategy gives a better advantage, but, in practice, will not be able to be stated as the actual outcome.
The Martingale system
One of the most widespread baccarat strategies is the Martingale system, which became very popular in the 18th century in France. Here you gradually adjust the bet you place in the card game. This is a very favourable strategy for the baccarat table, but it can also be used in other table games.
The system is based on the theory of long-term returns and on returns and asset prices such as gold, oil, stocks and currencies. It bets that the values will return to the average.
For Baccarat, the system assumes that the payout will come close to the bet’s RTP in the long run. In other words, a certain hand must win at an unknown time.
In addition, the system says that if you lost the previous hand, you should double your bet on the next one. For example, if you place a bet of $2 and bet that the bank wins and you lose, you should place a bet of $4 next time.
Here, however, you must remember to bet on the same hand. With this theory, you should continue like this until you win, and in this way, break your losing streak.
When you win, you go back to your original bet. As a player, the idea is that you will win the largest bet in a cycle.
In the long term, this system has a success rate close to 100%, but it may take time to achieve this. Many consider this the simplest baccarat strategy, especially considering winning at Baccarat.
The Paroli system
As a counter to the Martingale, we have the Paroli system. This is sometimes also called the Reverse Martingale.
This strategy in Paroli consists of doubling the deposit if you are on a winning streak or staying put if you lose. The purpose is to achieve three victories in a row, and the process in the system is relatively simple.
Starting off, the first step is to bet $1 on the player’s hand until you win. When you win, you double your bet to $2. If you lose, you go back to the start.
Step two is to bet $2 until you win, and then double the bet to $4. If you lose, you return to the first step and start over. If you win one more time, you double again to $8.
In step three, you will continue to bet $8 until you win. The game continues with these three steps until you have won or lost three times in a row. Then the cycle starts again.
D’Alembert system
Like both Martingale and Paroli, the D’Alembert system involves increasing your bet when you lose. This is designed to avoid quick and high losses while allowing you to win back what you have lost.
The first thing you need to do is to choose one specific unit, such as a specific value of chips. That is, if you play with 10s, your specific unit is 10.
If you start by betting $1, you increase your bet to $2 if you lose. However, if you win, you continue with a bet of $1 until you lose.
If you lose several times in a row, then win, you take away a bet. For example, if you have lost twice in a row and increased your bet to $3, you reduce it to $2 in the next round.
Different versions of Baccarat
Like other popular casino games, there are also several different variants of Baccarat. The most popular versions of the baccarat card game are Chermin de Fer, Punto Banco and Mini Baccarat.
Punto Banco
This game is also called American Baccarat. Punto Banco is a version that is played in large parts of the world, such as Macau, Australia, North America and at several online casinos. Also, with Punto Banco, you can choose whether to place your bet in the bank, on the player, or on a draw bet.
However, some points distinguish Punto Banco from other baccarat variants:
- Banker’s and player’s hands are executed according to established house rules
- The house always gives the game a 5% commission on winning bank bets.
In other words, whether a third card is to be drawn is decided by the house’s individual rules.
Chemin de Fer
The French expression goes more in the direction of the “railway” than it does of gambling but has nevertheless given its name to this game. This is mostly played in French casinos and is relatively similar to Punto Banco.
Chemin de Fer stands out in two different aspects.
- The players themselves have the opportunity to be the banker, so they are responsible for the banker’s hand.
- Players decide whether the player’s hand or the bank should draw a third card or not.
Six standard decks of 52 cards are shuffled to play Chemin de Fer before one of the players around the baccarat tables is selected as the bank. This player gets the opportunity in the first round, but it is common for this task to go round and round between the players around the table. The player selected to be the banker decides how much he or she is willing to bet. Here the player must think about his own odds of winning.
If a player wishes, he or she may choose to reach the same level as the bank and declare “banco”. This means that all other players are excluded from the round.
The croupier will then deal two cards face down to the banker’s and the player’s hand. If one of the hands has eight or nine, the hand wins and the round is over.
If neither hand has any of these values, the player responsible for the player’s hand will choose whether to stand or draw the third card.
One player can level with the banker on the amount and declare “banco”, thereby excluding all other players from the round.
Play Mini Baccarat
As the name suggests, this is a smaller version of Punto Banco, which is otherwise called Big Baccarat. Mini Baccarat has room for between six and seven baccarat players.
Whilst Punto Banco has several bankers, this version of Baccarat has only one dealer. Players are not allowed to be the banker, nor can they deal cards. This makes Mini Baccarat a faster game compared to the other variants.
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