Baccarat is a popular card game in many parts of the world today. In terms of gambling business, it contributes significantly to casino revenues especially in Asia where it is easily one of the most, if not the most, popular casino table game ever. Fans of baccarat love that it is a game of chance with little scheming or tactics involved. This would explain its high popularity in Asia, where folks are huge believers in fate. However, it would be imprudent to assume that there’s no way to up one’s chances of success at this game. Serious baccarat pros out to make good money in baccarat always have a few aces up their sleeves, and we’ll look at two of those today.
First, How Is The Baccarat Played?
Baccarat is a simple game, and this simplicity forms part of its tremendous appeal. It is common for a beginner to be nervy at the start – no reason at all to be embarrassed about that. But after a few rounds, the game becomes easy to grasp and in fact quite enjoyable. “The cards speak for themselves”, is what they say. Baccarat is an example of a card comparing game. It’s played by betting on who gets the better hand between the player and the banker. One may also bet on a tie. And how is the “better hand” determined? The better hand is the one with a total equal to or as close as possible to a 9. The general flow of the game is as follows:
- First, bets are placed on either the banker, player or tie.
- The croupier deals out two hands, one for the banker and another for the player. The player gets his hand first, with two cards dealt.
- The value of the player’s two cards is determined, and based on that they may be dealt a third card.
- The banker then receives his hand. His hand and the player’s are compared to determine the better hand.
- Winning bets are instantly paid out, and losing ones collected.
That’s it! After that, another round begins following the process above again.
Baccarat Strategy #1: Trust The Banker!
There’s a reason why the banker bet has the lowest odds in baccarat – it is the most likely to win. That’s also the reason why most casinos have a 5% commission on all banker bets – it’s because they know it is the most likely to succeed. There’s no commission on player and tie bets. Out of the three possible bets, the banker bet is the only one on which a commission is levied. We can talk about the house edge too:
- The tie bet has a huge house edge of around 14.36% and therefore a RTP (return to player) of just 85.64%.
- The player bet has a house edge of 1.24% and a RTP of 98.76%.
- The banker bet has the lowest house edge of the three – 1.06% – and a RTP of 98.94%.
So there you have it! Given that there’s no 100% way to accurately predict how a round ends, give yourself the best chance for profit by giving the banker a chance.
Baccarat Strategy #2: Stay Away From Ties
As explained above, a tie in baccarat is when the player’s hand and the bank’s have equal value. Ties, when successfully predicted, pay out exceptionally well – 8 to 1 or sometimes 9 to 1. Player bets pay out evens (1:1) while banker bets pay out 1:1 with a 5% commission deducted. The 8:1 or 9:1 is orders higher than the potential returns from banker or player bets and this alone should inform a wise gambler that a tie is very difficult to predict. A tie occurs very rarely in the game, that’s needless to say, but should anyone need a mathematical probability, its 9.09%. That means that only 1 out of 11 hands is a tie likely to happen.
