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.