Baccarat Tips

The banker bet in baccarat is a rarity among casino bets, regardless of whether you’re playing online or offline. That doesn’t make it a profitable bet, though it does have a very low house edge of 1.06 percent.

The house gets that edge by charging a 5 percent commission on winning baccarat bets. If you win a $20 bet on the banker hand,  you get $20 in winnings, but you have to pay the house its commission, so $1 goes back into casino coffers.

Among all the skills needed to get the most out of casino games online and offline, one of the most important for casino players is choosing your wagers wisely.

And an important part of choosing your wagers wisely is knowing which bets never to make.

Sometimes that means avoiding bets with extraordinarily high house edges. Sometimes it means skipping a bet because a better option is available that accomplishes the same thing with a lower house edge.

Baccarat is a betting game best played using a strategy. There’re many Baccarat strategies to choose from. But if you were to ask me for my top three, I would have to choose Baccarat strategies that are:

• Logical.
• Easy to understand
• Have the best possible chances of reducing the casinos house edge; meaning you have a strong likelihood of winning.

The whole concept of how to play Baccarat requires a strategy to be applied to the game. 

Regular players will identify with that exciting buzz we feel when joining a live Baccarat table. We look at the dealer and think about a winning method we could put into action.

We’re aware not every single outcome we bet on can win thus we instinctively know we need to use a Baccarat strategy that’ll give us the best possible chance of trying to win more than we stand to lose.

One of the most persistent and powerful methods used to beat baccarat has been to use the knowledge of the rank of exactly one card in the shoe, (see this post). A "known-card" AP patiently counts down the shoe until their card reaches the window where it is eligible to be dealt in the following round, that is, the card is one of the next six in the shoe.

Edge sorting in baccarat takes place when the player can observe the back of one or more cards before making his wager (see this post or this video for an introduction). If the player is able to sort the cards, then this knowledge allows the player to gain an edge. As I showed in this post, the ability to see one sorted card allows the player to gain an edge of 6.765% over the house.

For a table game to be successful in a casino, the player must feel as though he has some control. Unlike pushing a button on a slot, every successful table game involves a choice or consequential action. In roulette, the player chooses his numbers and the amount he will wager on each. In craps, the player gets to throw the dice. In blackjack, the player makes strategic decisions. And in the game of baccarat, the player gets to choose between Player, Banker and Tie.

• In this article you learn about 6 different games you can win in casinos.