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Baccarat Strategies
Baccarat Rules Baccarat is played with eight decks of cards. Each
numbered card less than ten is worth its face value, aces are
worth 1, and tens and face cards are worth 0. The suit does
not matter. Play begins by all baccarat players betting either
on the 'player', 'banker', or a tie. The terms "player" and
"banker" do not necessarily represent the dealer or the actual
players. After all bets are down, the dealer gives two cards
to the player and the banker. The score of the hand is the
right digit of the total of the cards. For example if the two
cards were an 9 and 7, then the total would be 16, and the
score would be a 6. The scores will always range from 0 to 9
and it is impossible to bust. A third card may or may not be
dealt to either or both the player and the dealer depending on
the totals. If either the player or the banker has a total of
an 8 or a 9 they both stand. If the player's total is 5 or
less then the player hits, otherwise the player stands. If the
player stands, then the banker hits on a total of 5 or less.
If the player does hit, then you can use the chart below to
determine if the banker hits (H) or stands (S).
Banker's
Score |
Player's Third
Card |
| 0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
| 7 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
| 6 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
S |
S |
| 5 |
S |
S |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
S |
S |
| 4 |
S |
S |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
S |
S |
| 3 |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
S |
H |
| 2 |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
| 1 |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
| 0 |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
H |
The winner is the one with the
greater score. Winning bets on the banker pay 19 to 20 (or
even money, less a 5% commission). Winning bets on the player
pay 1 to 1. Winning bets on a tie pay either 8 to 1 or 9 to 1,
depending on where you play. Regardless of whether the tie
pays 8:1 or 9:1 it is a very bad bet and should be avoided.
You may wonder how the dealer collects the 5% commission on
winning banker bets. If they did so every hand it would
involve a lot of change and slow down the game. To avoid this,
during the course of the baccarat play the dealer will pay
even money to winning banker bets and consider the 5% an IOU
(I Owe You). As the dealer plays through an eight deck shoe
he/she will keep track of the commissions every player owes.
At the end of the shoe or when a player wants to leave
mid-shoe, the dealer will collect on the commissions. Make
sure you don't run out of money with outstanding
commissions.
The Baccarat House Edge Except for the tie bet,
baccarat is one of the best bets in the casino. The following
table shows the house edge on all available baccarat
bets.
| Probabilities in
Baccarat |
| Bet |
Combinations |
Probability
of Winning |
House
Edge |
| Bank |
2212744 |
45.843% |
1.064% |
| Player |
2153464 |
44.615% |
1.228% |
| 8:1
Tie |
460601 |
9.543% |
14.117% |
| 9:1
Tie |
460601 |
9.543% |
4.574% |
Baccarat Strategies are based on mathematics.
The most popular is the 1 - 3 - 2 - 6 baccarat
strategy. With this strategy you keep track of what you bet
over the course of four hands. The objective is to bet a
little with the potential for a larger return. With this
specific baccarat system, you can risk two dollars for a
return of ten.
Here is an example of how baccarat
strategies such as this work:
First, bet one unit. If
you win add another, making the second bet a total of three
units. If you win the second bet there are six units on the
table. Remove four, making the third bet two units. If the
third bet wins, add two more units for a total of six on the
fourth bet. If the fourth bet wins, you collect a total of 12
units, ten of pure profit. So if you lose the first bet using
this baccarat system, you lose one unit. If you win the first
bet but lose the second, that's two units you've lost. If you
win the second bet but lose the third bet, your profit is two
units. If you win the first three bets but lose the fourth,
you break even. If you lose the second bet five out of six
times, and then win four consecutive bets once, you break
even.
Baccarat Strategies such as this work because
the game is an even-money odds game. The same system will work
for any casino game that pays out even-money. But, don't
forget baccarat strategies like this may work in the
short-term, but in the long run, the casinos ALWAYS win.
*The following online casinos are
highly reputable, and we recommend them for trying out our
craps strategies, whether you want to play for free/fun, or if
you want to play for real money. Good luck!
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