Baccarat Tips To Win
Let’s get one thing straight – there is not one single surefire Baccarat strategy guaranteeing you wins. Anyone who claims they have cracked the Baccarat code is either a Trump supporter who yells at kids to get off their lawn or a self-righteous and self-proclaimed “expert” lacking the bankroll to back up him boasting his uncanny skill and technique. And although there’s not really one foolproof strategy per se, considering how much based on the chance the game is, there are some rules you can follow to ensure a pleasant time at the Baccarat table.
How to Play Baccarat – The Rules In a Nutshell
This baccarat tips guide features the best way to play baccarat for US players. We are breaking the misnomer that you have to be wealthy to take part in baccarat gambling games. You can learn how to win baccarat games by simply getting the basics right: using the best strategy for the card game. Don’t look for patterns. When first learning how to play baccarat, new players will often overlook this.
First and foremost – learn the mechanics of the game. Make sure you know the rules, how the cards are dealt and what their value is. It can be boring learning all the intricacies like when the player stands and when the banker hits but if you’re betting your money, you need to have a complete understanding of what’s going on.
Despite the fancy suited high-rollers we’ve come to associate with Baccarat, it doesn’t take the intellectual prowess and deductive reasoning of a British Secret Service agent to ace it. In fact, this is probably the most straightforward game you can play at a casino. Despite all the prestige surrounding the game, it’s really nothing more than a coin toss, so once you’re familiar with the terms and bets, you’re all good to go. To prep you up for a night at a glitzy land-based casino or a game at an online live table, here’s a crash course on how to play Baccarat.
Baccarat is played at large kidney-shaped tables that can sit 12 players and two dealers, plus a caller. In front of every player, there are two fields – Player and Banker. Each player places their bet before the cards are dealt and chooses whether their wager goes to the Player hand or the Banker hand. There is also a third option – Tie if the Player and Banker’s hands have equal value. The version of Baccarat played at American casinos is called Punto Banco which stands for Player and Banker. After all players have placed their bets, the Player and the Banker are each dealt two cards. The hand that wins is the one that’s closer to a total of 9. So, if the Player hand is 8 and the Banker hand is a 3, the winning one is the Player and all punters at the table who have placed bets on the Player hand, win. If the hands are equal, it’s a loss for everyone who has bet on Player / Banker and a win for all that have bet on a Tie.
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The Good, the Bad and the Player – Baccarat Bets to Make and Avoid
The first step towards winning is to avoid the Tie bet. Not that we don’t like it or anything but if you’re in it to win it, then wagering your money on a bet with a 14-percent house edge is not exactly a surefire winning strategy. Next, you need to know the odds – although it seems pretty straightforward having only two options to bet – either Player or Banker, there are slightly different odds for the two as follows:
- Banker – 45.843%
- Player – 44.615%
- Tie – 9.543%
*There’s also a commission on the Banker bet so make sure you’re familiar with these before placing a wager.
The Banker Bet
With its higher odds, the Banker bet seems like the most reasonable choice when designing a Baccarat winning strategy. Experts will advise you to bet your money on it because it has been estimated that it will win more than 50% of the time – one of the reasons casinos add the 5% commission on it. Despite this being added, it’s still a preferred choice for many players – both newbies and seasoned pros who swear by it. Experts will also recommend that you keep betting on Banker until it loses as it has a better chance for winning streaks and that you wait for at least one bet after a Banker loss before switching to Player.
A good thing to always keep in mind is that hot/cold tables and winning/losing streaks are pure myths born by the gambler’s fallacy that in even odds bets after many consecutive outcomes of the same results, the opposite one is just bound to happen. There’s absolutely no mathematical or any other proof of such co-dependency so we advise that you don’t employ such practices.
Outcome | Combinations | Probability | Banker Bet Return | Player Bet Return | Tie Bet 8 to 1 return | Tie Bet 9 to 1 return |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Banker Wins | 2,2922,252,566,437,888 | 0.458597 | 0.435668 | -0.458597 | -0.458597 | -0.458597 |
Player Wins | 2,230,518,282,592,256 | 0.446247 | -0.446247 | 0.446247 | -0.446247 | -0.446247 |
Tie | 475,627,426,473,216 | 0.095156 | 0 | 0 | 0.761248 | 0.856404 |
Totals | 4,998,398,275,503,360 | 1 | -0.010579 | -0.012351 | -0.143596 | -0.048440 |
*Baccarat Odds
The Player Bet
Although the Banker bet is typically assumed as the better option, it’s a bit different when you’re using a strategy. Considering the commission on the Banker bet, it will be less lucrative when you’re using progressions. Let’s say, you’re playing Martingale – you are doubling your bet after every loss. After four consecutive losses at a 10-unit wager, you’ve lost 150 units (10 + 20 + 40 + 80).
You bet on Banker again and this time you wager 160. Finally, you win and the total payout is 304 units. That’s the 160 stake plus the 160 win, minus the 5% commission. The total amount wagered was 310 (10 + 20 + 40 + 80 + 160) which means that even though you’ve won, you haven’t covered your losses and due to the negative progression and the bet commission, your net loss is 6 units. A similar streak of losses while betting the Player hand would have given the expected 1 unit of profit, that is 10. Despite its lower odds, it’s the better option when playing with systems.
The Tie Bet
Baccarat is known as the casino game with the lowest house edge, however, the Tie bet can definitely tarnish its reputation. The Banker is recommended for its low edge of 1.06%, the Player is also a good option with a house edge of 1.26% and then there’s the Tie bet – standing at the staggering 14.4% house edge, defying logic and critical thinking. Naturally, it’s not a good call to place your money on a bet that has less than 10% odds and the possibility of paying back only 14 units per very 100 units wagered. That’s why the most logical thing would be to avoid it and play as if it doesn’t exist. A tie is a push, so your wager will just wait for the next round. If you’re following a streak and you get a Tie, simply don’t count it and keep playing accordingly.
Practice Baccarat for Free
How To Beat Baccarat
You can test this experts’ advice in our demo game and see for yourself whether betting successively on Banker yields the highest winning potential. Play for free Baccarat by Pragmatic Play and use its features to hone your betting strategies. The game follows standard baccarat rules and has payouts as follows:
- Player Win – 1:1 (Even Money)
- Banker Win – 0.95:1 (with 5% commission)
- Tie – 8:1 (in case of Tie, Banker Bet and Player Bet are Push)
Played with eight decks, this version keeps history of the last twenty results indicating B for Banker, P for Player, and T for Tie. You have also options to rebet or place different bets before each new deal. With a betting range of 1 – 100 and 500 free credits, the game will also allow you to test out some of the progressive betting systems described below.
Using Betting Systems in Baccarat – It’s Not Stupid if it Works
Some practices used in other table and card games can also be applied to Baccarat. Both simple strategies like the D’Alembert and more sophisticated ones like the Labouchere system can serve your purpose of beating the odds at Baccarat. Positive progression systems like the Parlay and Paroli or negative progressions are also applied by players. To find out how you can use popular betting systems like the Fibonacci progression or the 1-3-2-6 system, read more details about Baccarat betting systems on our dedicated page.
Positive Progressions
Using a positive progression system means that you increase your bet every time you win and reduce it after a loss. Positive progressions are considered to be less damaging to your bankroll than negative progression betting systems. They are supposed to help you maximize your winnings if you go on a lucky winning streak and keep your losses to a minimum if you end up having consecutive losses. In theory, they do make sense and it is possible to win more money if you get a series of winning outcomes and soften the blow to your wallet in case of several consecutive losses. Positive progressions do not influence your chances of winning or losing a bet and are generally no risk at all.
Negative Progression Systems
Negative progressions are just the opposite of positive progression systems and can actually be harmful to your bankroll. In essence, they postulate that you should increase your wager after every loss and reduce it after a winning bet. At first glance, they seem logical and it’s easy to see why some gamblers will be tempted to try them. The theory behind them is that when you increase your bet, eventually your win will be big enough to cover your losses.
A closer look at how they work will reveal all the problems about such betting practice. There’s a very real risk that you will eventually run out of money, especially if you’re doubling your bet. Besides, there’s the bet limit of the house you need to consider – even if you have enough money to keep betting, the cap of the bet amount will prevent you from placing a wager big enough to cover your losses. Unless you’re very experienced and know exactly what you’re doing, such systems can be a recipe for disaster.
Flat Betting Strategy
Unlike positive and negative progression systems where you have to alter the amount of your bet, a flat betting strategy for Baccarat means that you will be repeatedly placing the exact same wager in successive rounds of play, regardless of whether you lose or win. This approach is considered advantageous due to the lower risk in case of a losing streak. But how can you win more using a flat betting strategy? The best way to profit from the flat betting strategy is to determine correctly which hand will win, Banker or Player, with the accuracy higher than 50 percent. Using the flat betting strategy means that you will place the same amount of bet on every hand. While this is an effective way of minimizing the risk, it doesn’t guarantee big wins. It’s useful if you’re still getting used to the game and not very certain of the rules.
What are the benefits of using the flat betting system instead of the negative or positive progressions?
- Flat betting offers higher chances of actually making a profit.Since you don’t double or increase your bet in flat betting, there’s a smaller risk of overspending. Not adding more money to your wager reduces the risks of bigger losses and presents a better chance of making a profit.
- You can bet more. Flat betting gives you the option for more bets at a lesser value since you don’t double the wager neither after a win, nor after a loss, the way you would in progression systems. You can bet more money because you won’t make big losses due to doubled bets.
- You can use it if you’re not very well versed in the rules. Flat betting is suitable for beginners because of its simplicity and lower risk. You don’t need to make calculations and you can apply it even if you’re not familiar with the rules like drawing additional cards.
If you’re interested in utilizing a betting system, flat betting is the only way to do it without the risk of losing more money than you can afford. Experts advise against using negative progressions and are sceptical about positive progressions as well, so it’s not a good idea to chase after other strategies if you can gain an advantage over the game by using the flat betting system. It doesn’t guarantee a sure win but it is an effective way to increase your odds if you manage to predict the outcome of the round. Even if you don’t, you don’t risk losing a lot of money.
Round | Win/Loss | Bet | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1 | win | $1 | + $1 |
2 | win | $1 | + $2 |
3 | win | $1 | + $3 |
4 | loss | $1 | + $2 |
5 | loss | $1 | + $1 |
6 | loss | $1 | 0 |
*Flat betting example
Card Counting in Baccarat – Close to Impossible but Still an Option
Card counting has gained enormous popularity at Blackjack ever since Edward E. Thorp published his 1964 bestseller Beat the Dealer. It’s a method that has proven to be lucrative for players who have used it successfully to beat blackjack. But of course, it’s not just the players that caught on to it – the casinos are well aware of it and now blackjack tables are the most closely watched ones, with suspected card counters often being barred from betting or asked to leave the premises. But gamblers won’t let their practice go to waste so they turn to the next best thing where they can continue to hone their skills – Baccarat.
Yes, Baccarat card counting is a thing and might as well be the reason why Baccarat is likely to replace blackjack as the most popular casino game. Although theoretically, you can beat Baccarat by counting cards, the edge you get will be so small that it might not actually be worth your time, considering how much more complicated than card counting at a game of 21 it is. Still, if you have the time and dedication to try and learn it, we have the complete Baccarat card counting guide to help you.
Money Management Is Crucial
If you decide to use progression systems, you need to exercise strict control over your budget. Any system that requires you to increase or double your bet is a pitfall that you’ll have hard time getting out of. Whatever systems you’re using to play online baccarat at the best online casinos, be it the Paroli, Martingale, Parlay or any other, never spend more money than you set out to. Baccarat is a chance-based game, you can never predict with certainty whether you will have a winning or a losing streak. Don’t go chasing your losses and remember the golden rule – quit while you’re ahead.
- MasterCard
- Visa
- Skrill
- PayPal
- ApplePay
- PaySafeCard
- Neteller
- Entropay
- Fast Bank Transfer
- Bank Wire
- Cheque
Plan your budget – decide on your wager and put a limit on the total sum you’re willing to bet. If you decide to make your wager $10, allow yourself a $200 bankroll and if you lose it all, simply walk away. Take time until the next session. It’s nice to leave the table a winner, but gambling is inherently unpredictable. The worst strategy would be to start chasing your losses or fall for some of the erroneous motivators behind gambling like:
- near misses: being very close to winning but not actually winning and continuing to wager with the assumption that the next round is due to be a win.
- the illusion of control: being able to roll the dice, spin the ball at roulette, or squeeze the cards in baccarat will give you a false sensation of exercising control over a game purely based on luck.
- the gambler’s fallacy: the wrong and unsupported conviction that after a series of the same result or a losing streak, the next one will be lucky and with the winnings, you’ll be able to even out.
Baccarat Tips And Strategies
Having Fun and Staying in Control Is the Best Strategy
All of these are misconceptions that are actually the first signs of compulsive gambling. We have an innate aversion to loss but we have to accept that in a tight game like baccarat, the chance is the deciding factor. Stop playing when you’ve spent your budget, regardless of whether you’re winning or losing and give yourself some time before you go back to playing. If you’re winning, split your win in half and use only that to keep playing. Even if you lose it, you still walk away with a profit. Remember that gambling is an entertaining activity – enjoy the fun and social aspects of it and stay in control of your bankroll. Now, that’s a strategy that always works.
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Welcome to the best baccarat strategy resource page online. We’ve put some of the top strategies to test and have provided some tips to help you win more often. You’re going to learn some excellent baccarat tricks to win today. There’s no need for fancy betting systems. Common sense will get the job more often!
Can Baccarat Be Beaten? – Understand The Casino’s Advantage
Any baccarat strategy should consider the house edge when making the various bets. As you can see, it’s never a good idea to make the ‘suckers bet’ by betting on a tie. The banker bet has the lowest house edge, but there’s a catch!
- Banker bets have a house edge of 1.06%
- Player bets have a house edge of 1.24%
- Tie bets have a house edge of 14.4%
Needless to say, don’t make the tie bet! While the banker bet looks most appealing from the table above, don’t forget that most casinos take a commission on banker wins. Player wins don’t pay a commission, so betting on the banker has a slight disadvantage. It’s important to remember when you play baccarat, and it’s why we prefer to make the player bet. Also remember that whatever baccarat strategy you end up using, the house edge won’t change.
Baccarat Strategy – Which Ones Actually Work?
What’s the best baccarat strategy? We’ve tested some of the most common ones here. We’re always adding to this section, so as we hear about new strategies, we’ll put them to the test and list them here. Will an effective baccarat strategy help you win more often? Read these pieces and you’ll find out the best way to play the game of baccarat for your personality type, goals, and available bankroll. Does the baccarat pattern strategy work? What about other strategies? There’s only one way to find out!
- The 1324 Baccarat Strategy – In this piece, we explain how the system works, how it guarantees a win after the second bet, and we’ll show you a real video of us putting it to the test.
- Martingale Baccarat Strategy – We put the riskiest baccarat strategy to the test here. Does this negative progression system work? Find out here.
- The Paroli Baccarat Strategy – This baccarat strategy takes advantage of winning streaks and aims to maximize profits. Learn all about how to use it and whether or not it works here.
We’ll be adding lots of new baccarat strategies as our team discovers, studies, and analyzes them. As you’ll see, we test each strategy, find out if they give you any advantage as a player (such as by reducing house edge), and report our results. You should really read these before you spend real money testing any baccarat strategy.
How to Win at Baccarat – Simple Tips & Tricks
1. Beware the Banker’s Cut!
When you learn baccarat rules you will know it’s normal for the casino sites to take a cut of the proceedings during a game where you bet on the banker to win. This represents the house edge and is how the casino makes its money. Any true winning baccarat system will factor this in.
Keep in mind that the bankers cut should be in and around 5%. If you want to know how to consistently win at baccarat, it’s essential to check this, however, because some casinos will try to take advantage and take as much as a 20% cut for banker bets. Go for the lowest commission every time.
Reading the game terms and conditions is a great way to learn more about this. Alternatively, ask the customer service reps what the banker’s cut is. If you don’t trust them to tell you the truth, you shouldn’t be playing at that particular casino in the first place.
This is left out of most ‘how to win at baccarat’ guides precisely because they’re not out to really teach you how to win. The best bet to make is player in most cases. Only make the banker bet when the player bet has been on a winning streak and you feel it’s about to change. This information should always factor into your baccarat strategy.
2. Baccarat Bankroll Management
This money management tip will help you more than any baccarat pattern reading or slick tricks. It’s very important to take your chips and walk while you’re ahead. It’s too easy to go on a ‘run’ in baccarat and double your money up to 10 times in a row. We’ve personally experienced a huge run, and have watched £100 turn into over £3k at the baccarat tables in about 15 minutes at one of the popular casino sites.
It’s so tempting to keep going, but no matter how slight the house edge is, it is going to catch up eventually and take you out. You have to learn to control those overwhelming brain chemicals that make you feel invincible when you are up a few grand. Walk away before the house takes back everything and sends your mood plummeting. You need to stick to your baccarat game strategy at all costs!
The only way to win baccarat consistently is to keep your head on your shoulders and walk when you’re in the green. Money management is everything. Emotion will always be the undoing of even advanced baccarat players! It’s more important than any baccarat strategy.
Lastly, remember to calculate the banker bet commission in any bankroll management plan.
3. Using Baccarat Bonuses – Read the Fine Print
It’s possible to use a generous casino deposit bonus to really stack your bets and start accumulating large amounts of money risk-free. If you play baccarat online and double it several times in a row, without risking your own cash reserves, you could really start to beat baccarat quite quickly without a lot of risk.
You might be disappointed, though, when you realize that the terms of the bonus dictate that you can’t withdraw your winnings and attempting to do so could cause you to lose everything.
Even at reputable online casinos you can trust, make sure you read the fine print. It’s pretty annoying to realize all that money you’ve won was never real to begin with, until you survive betting it x50 times over, at least!
Here’s an example of a baccarat bonus you don’t want to take:
£100 bonus, minimum deposit £20, wagering x60. £500 conversion limit.
In the above example, there are two things which make this a terrible baccarat bonus. First, the wagering requirements are far too high. You would have to bet £5,000 before you could withdraw the £100 bonus. Second, you can only withdraw £200 of what you win. That’s the conversion limit, and that means this bonus sucks. The minimum deposit is also far too high as compared to the size of the bonus.
Here’s an example of a much better deposit bonus you’ll want to take. We would consider taking this one:
£100% deposit bonus, minimum deposit £20, wagering x20. No conversion limit.
4. Accounting for the Element of Luck
Keep in mind that it doesn’t matter how good your baccarat system is, how well thought out, or how mathematically sure you are that it will work – all casino games involve luck. Anyone who plays baccarat for a living will confirm this. No matter what, lady luck has a role and no baccarat tips and tricks can overcome her influence.
When considering how to win at baccarat, don’t forget that lady luck will ultimately be in charge. Experienced gamblers know she’s either with you or she’s not, and there’s very little your system can do to help that. Even though there are set baccarat odds, lady luck still reigns supreme. Even the best bet (player) won’t win every time.
If you play a few games and it just isn’t happening, walk away and come back another day. Trust your gut instinct, especially if you’re an experienced gambler. Your subconscious is trying to tell you lady luck isn’t around, and betting against that is futile. Hopefully, these baccarat strategy tips will help you.
If you visit a real casino, you’ll see players keeping track of every hand result as in the baccarat table above. The results above don’t include the tie bet, but they would if it had come up. They think they can spot baccarat patterns in it. We’re telling you this is BS. There’s no pattern. Each hand is determined by random chance. Don’t waste your time with baccarat superstitions like this.
5. Manage Your Emotions & Have a Plan
There’s nothing more fatal to a winning baccarat strategy than getting carried away and forgetting the plan. Yet it happens far too often! One of the main reasons we gamble is the rush of it, and going on a roll and seeing those digits stack up in the ‘winnings’ column can really cause you to lose focus and perspective.
Stay sober, shake it off and refocus after a big win. Let the excitement settle, stop playing for a while if you have to, and stick to the game plan.
Never bet more than you set out to play with, walk away when your predetermined number has been met or exceeded, and if you’re playing a strategy like the double down or martingale, don’t change halfway through. Think about it up front, and stick with it ’till the end!
Playing Live Dealer Baccarat – A Better Experience
If you’ve never played live baccarat before, we suggest trying it out ASAP. There’s nothing wrong with the digital games, but playing with a live dealer makes the experience much more enjoyable. There are also some interesting new baccarat variants available in live casinos which you won’t find digital versions of. We’ll walk more about some of them in this section. The good news is that you can use every baccarat strategy above on live games, too.
Lightning Baccarat – In this baccarat game, multiple cards are selected randomly and given multipliers of up to 1,000x. If you win and these cards are included in the winning hand, you’ll win those multipliers. In this way, a simple £1 bet on baccarat could turn into a £1,000 windfall. It’s really worth trying this version of live baccarat.
Dragon Tiger – This isn’t strictly speaking baccarat proper, but it does service from baccarat and belongs to the same family of card games. It’s the simplest game we have ever seen. Two hands are dealt, and whichever has the higher card wins. It’s a much faster-paced game, so you can win (and lose) money much more rapidly.
Speed Baccarat – Evolution Gaming powers this version of live baccarat. As the name suggests, it’s a baccarat game with the speed dial turned up. Every hand will take just half the time of a standard game. If you have a need for speed, try this game.
Live baccarat does tend to cost a little more to play if you like to bet for the minimum cost per hand. Typically, you’ll pay £1 per bet. High stakes players can wager up to £10,000 per hand in some live baccarat games.
There’s no comparison between live games and digital ones. Since every baccarat strategy will work on live games just as well as on digital games, why not play baccarat at a live dealer online casino? Some of them also have side bets that pay more than the tie bet. Side bets like pairs and perfect pairs make for unlikely but potentially high-paying opportunities.
How to Win Baccarat More Often – A Summary
When you begin learning baccarat strategy, the tables, numbers, and systems can seem mind-boggling and overwhelming. It seems impossible to find simple baccarat systems that work, doesn’t it? Phil Ivey created one, but he paid the price for it by being labelled as a cheat.
That’s just how people who are selling you systems related to how to win in baccarat like to keep things. That way if the “baccarat sure win formula” they sold you doesn’t work they can always fob you off with some math they know you likely don’t understand and bet you’ll go away without saying anything. You’ll lose real money when you use these systems. We’ve even seen card counting strategies for baccarat. They don’t work!
Yet baccarat strategy doesn’t have to be complicated. Sticking to some key playing principles will help you beat baccarat majority of the time. Above are some playing tips that will teach you how to win at baccarat more often, or at least not to make the amateur mistakes which make it easy for the casino to take your bankroll.
So, how to win at real money baccarat, then? Follow these common-sense baccarat tricks to win to learn how. There’s no baccarat secret pattern or cheat. It’s just common sense and improving your chances through understanding how baccarat works and avoiding the most common mistakes.
Before you play for real money, please be aware that beginners should read our ‘How to Play Baccarat‘ article if you don’t know the rules by heart. It won’t make much sense if you don’t understand the basic rules and gameplay of the game of baccarat. Take some time to read it; this is a very easy game with two cards for the player and banker, and extra cards only dealt in some circumstances.
When you type ‘how to win baccarat for sure’ into a search engine and are bamboozled with endless tables, numbers systems, and complex looking equations, remember it’s all smoke and mirrors designed to lighten your wallet and get you to buy the system. There are no magical fixes. Effective baccarat strategy is just the same as winning any other casino game. Playing by the great gambling principles laid out above will help you come out on top more than any other system you could pay for, and we’re telling you for free. Oh, and remember, don’t make the tie bet; it may pay well, but you’ll rarely win it!
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