To win at Baccarat, play Baccarat. It’s an attractive game to turn you hand to because it tends to offer some of the lower house edges in casinos. It is also a game of chance, meaning that although you can improve your odds, it’s not a game that you need to learn through years of practice. Instead, you can get good at this game pretty quickly. There are a number of different types, Punto Banco, Baccarat Banque, and Chemin de Fer, but here we’re going to focus on Punto Banco as it’s the most common version.
So, first, a quick update of the game. Baccarat is card game where you compare the cards between the banker and the player. Three results are possible: either the player or the banker has the high score, or there is a tie. The value of each card are at face value for 2 through to 9, aces are worth one point, and the 10, jack, queen and king have no value. You add up the points in a hand to the units, so if you have a hand which has an ace and a two, it is worth three. A hand with six and a seven is also worth three, because you only take the digit after each ten (so a hand worth 13 becomes worth three, as does a hand adding up to 23).
In Punto Banco, the player can back either their hand or the banker’s. Hands are dealt from a shoe containing up to eight decks of cards, with the dealer discarding the first card. Two cards are dealt to each hand for each coup. If the player or the banker scores an eight or a nine, this will win and the result is announced. If neither has an eight or a nine, then drawing rules are followed for one or the other player to receive a third card.
Winning at Baccarat involves taking a strategy and going with it. There’s no guarantee that any strategy will work all the time, but it gives you a focus for your betting and should give you an edge over simply betting at a whim.
Follow the Banker
In Baccarat, the banker has a slightly higher change of winning each round, but will usually award a slightly smaller winning (0.95:1). However, because the banker is slightly more likely to win than the player, one winning strategy is to consistently bet on the banker to win. The drawback with this approach is that it might take a few rounds to see results, but you are guaranteed more overall wins than betting on the player.
An alternative to this strategy is to follow the player, given that both have similar chances of winning, but player bets pay out slightly more. The banker’s bet has a house edge of 1.06 percent, which makes it better for players, but the player’s bet has 1.24 percent. However, the player’s bet pays out at 5% more, so you might do better overall, depending on how much you bet. Statistically, you’re marginally better at always betting on the banker, but you might get better payouts with the player.
Bet on Pairs
Pair bets offer a return of 11:1, so if you make bets for either the player or the banker bets you’ll win 11 times your outlay. If you focus on pair bets, you’re more likely to get a good return. Be aware, however, that you aren’t guaranteed a good run of pairs, and you can’t really count the cards in this kind of game because of the number of packs involved, but overall, you’ll probably get a better return this way round.
The 3-2 Approach
This is where you take five chips of equal value, and split them across two different bets, with three chips on one and two on the other. For example, you can bet three chips on the banker or player, and then two chips on the banker or player to score a pair. You can alter the intervals between the different players as the game progresses.
The Martingale and the Reverse Martingale
The Martingale is one of the most common betting strategies, and is easy to follow. Every time you lose a round, you bet twice as much. When you win, it will then offset the previous losses. As long as you keep within your limits, this strategy may be effective.
The Reverse Martingale is similar except that everytime you win, you double the next bet, and when you lose, you decrease it. So you don’t increase the wins, you focus on reducing losses. In this, you can lower the bets on the losing rounds and decrease the amount that is lost.
The drawback with these approaches is that they rely upon the notion that past bets influence the future, which is a classic case of the gambler’s fallacy. Each hand’s outcomes are independent. However, it has been argued that with no limits, the martingale could result in consistent wins, but unless you have very deep pockets, this is unlikely to occur.
However, this is not necessarily the point – the Martingale and Reverse Martingale offer you a way to frame your bets, and increase the excitement with every round, so it’s certain a good way to have fun and add excitement to your rounds.
The Fibonacci Strategy
The Fibonacci sequence is where each number is the sum of the two before, (so 1,1,2, 3, 5, 8, 13…) This strategy involves betting the minimal amount on either the player or the banker, then, if you lose moving to the next number in the Fibonacci sequence. If you win you move two steps back in the Fibonacci sequence. So unlike the Martingale approach that involves increasing each time, this involves moving back and forwards depending on whether you’re winning or losing. This reduces the risk of this strategy, and means you’re more likely to extend your time at the table.
Whatever Your Strategy, Be Consistent
None of these strategies can guarantee you a win, but they can offer you a way of improving your winnings over time. What’s more, many have the effect of improving your options, increasing the excitement of the game, and allowing you to get more pleasure from a good solid period at the Baccarat table. Whatever strategy you pick, be sure to be consistent, remember to limit your overall spend, and have fun.