The strict rules prescribing the issuing of cards make Baccarat
a game that involves very little skill, in some casinos you may
see players religiously keeping check of every card but with a shoe
holding eight shuffled packs (over 400 cards) the benefit of card
counting is minimal. Some players you will find are using these
scorecard to spot patterns in the hands, again with the numbers
of cards involved and the randomness of a well shuffled pack, not
to mention eight, they are being somewhat optimistic. Each hand
is inividual and has no memory or bearing on the previous or the
next.
Baccarat Odds
So what about the odds, well statistically without commission and
if ties are allowed the channces on a player winning are 44.62%,
losing 45.85%, and 9.53% to tie. This implies the best bet is that
the banker will win, to even this out commission is applied to the
banker winning lets assume 5% at this rate the odds are narrowed
but still marginally in favour of the banker. The odds paid out
in the event of a tie are usually 8:1 which sound quite attractive
however because of the rarity of a tie it is considered one of the
worst bets to make so leave that one out of your winning strategy.
Generally speaking if the commision is 5% or less then betting on
the banker has an advantage above 5% the advantage moves towards
betting on the player. Most online casinos allow ties but not all
so as with all games always check which version of the rules apply
before playing.
Baccarat Stategies
Most so called Baccarat Systems are based on the Martindale model
or a variation of it, this involves doubling your bet if you loose
(or win in some versions) and continuing to double until you win
thus getting your money back plus the original bet and then start
with your original bet value. Infallable yes but, and the but is
important, it can happen that you may have a loosing run of several
hands and tables invariably have a limit lets just look at how your
bet incrases in size over a few lost hands. Lets assume a starting
bet of 5 next 10 then 20,40,80,160,320,640,1280,2560 and thats only
10 hands now if your next bet takes you over the tables maximum
you've just lost over 5000, so as with all bets know your limits
and work within them. All this caution aside Baccarat has one of
the lowest house margins of all casino games and offers enjoyment
without too much effort and if your luck you just might win, good
luck.
If you want to know more about the history of Baccarat and some
of its derivatives visit or Baccarat
History page.