Baccarat Strategy Guide: Top Tips to Win in Baccarat
Although it was previously known as a game reserved exclusively for the elite, gentlemen in tuxedos and ladies in evening gowns, today baccarat is more and more available outside the high-stakes tables. A six-figure salary is no longer necessary to be able to afford to try your hand at this exciting card game. Baccarat is known today as one of the most popular games in both land-based and online casinos, and it can be played with affordable amounts of money, making it accessible to the masses.
Now, even if you don’t need a small fortune to participate in this game, we do not recommend that you enter it blindly and treat it as an ordinary pastime in the casino. Baccarat can be very profitable, but it can quickly put you in the red if you don’t approach it properly. In the following text, we will reveal some tricks and tips that can improve your playing strategy in baccarat.
If you are new to the game we do have some good news for you! Baccarat is considered to be one of the easier card games to master. Considering it has very few rules due to it mostly being a game of chance and it’s a slow-paced game it’s usually great for beginners. It’s also one of the top games alongside blackjack when it comes to odds.
Although it is mostly a game of chance, there are quite a few helpful strategies that can help improve your gameplay so there is no reason to rely solely on luck.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
The notorious Tie bet
Before we tell you what you should do, let’s go over the one thing that you definitely shouldn’t do. Never place the tie bet. We can’t stress this enough.
I’m sure that the payout of 8-1 is alluring but the odds of actually winning a tie bet are certainly not. The house advantage for this wager is 14.36%. To put things in perspective, the odds for a Banked bet are 1.06% and the Player bet comes with a similar percentage of 1.24.
So to sum it up this bet gives you an approximate chance of 8% with a house edge of 14%, which is why any experienced player will tell you that this bet is not worthwhile and can quickly drain your wallet.
Understanding the odds and the house advantage of each bet is the first step to having an optimal betting strategy.
The Banker bet
This is probably the most overused phrase in any Baccarat Strategy and one piece of advice that everyone will agree on is “Always bet on the banker.” We know, it’s not the most innovative strategy but it sure is reliable.
This is the most common betting strategy in baccarat and for a good reason too. With a house edge of 1.06% and a payout percentage of 98.94, it’s the safest bet that you can make.
The only downside to a banker bet is a 5% commission, but even with that in mind considering that you have close to a 46% chance of winning a banker bet against a tie and a player bet, this is still the most favorable and profitable bet that you can make.
The Martingale strategy
Another old but gold strategy that you can use is the Martingale strategy. This is one of the oldest tricks in the book and it’s still highly effective.
This strategy consists of repeating the bet after every win and doubling it after every loss.
For example, let’s say you placed a 1$ bet on the Banker. If the banker is to win you are going to repeat your bet and put another 1$ on the Banker, but if the Banker loses, you then bet 2$. If you were to lose again the next bet would be 4$ and if you were to win you would simply repeat the 2$ and so on.
The strategy is quite simple but if you plan to use it we recommend starting with the smallest amount possible unless you are a high roller, since a streak of losses can drive up your bets quite high so use this strategy wisely.
The Fibonacci strategy
If you are fond of math you are going to like this one. The Fibonacci strategy is based on the Fibonacci sequence of natural numbers where each number in a sequence is a sum of the previous 2 numbers.
So, much like with the Martingale, you are going to increase the wager after every bet lost until you score a win.
The Paroli strategy
The Paroli strategy, also known as The Reverse Martingale, is a positive betting system and the opposite of the Martingale.
Basically, it relies on doubling the bet after each win. The objective of this strategy is to get 3 wins in a row. For example, if you bet 5$ you double it to 10$ when you win. You keep betting 10$ until you win and then you bring it up to 20$ and keep it up until you win again and double it to 40$. After that, you keep repeating the same cycle until you win or lose 3 times in a row.
Some tips to keep in mind before you start playing:
■Set strict win and loss limits
■Avoid all in bets
■Break down your bankroll
■Choose tables with fewer decks
■Find games with lower commissions
■Practice for free before you start playing with real money
The last piece of advice is probably one of the most important of all that we shared with you today. Before you put your theoretical knowledge to the test we encourage you to also get some practical experience before you are ready to play with your money. Good luck!
