Baccarat Strategy Guide - How To Play Smart This Casino Game

Jump to

Baccarat has a reputation as being a game that is enjoyed by sophisticated players and high rollers. Yet, this doesn’t mean that it is a complicated game that you need a complex baccarat strategy for.

In fact, it is a very simple game that anyone can get to grips with but is there any strategy to baccarat that you need to know about?

Understand the Rules

The first step before playing any card game is to understand what it is all about. In this case, a solid baccarat betting strategy needs to begin with a close look at the baccarat casino rules. This is what will let you see how to win and what the different options are.

The good news is that this is an easy game to get to know, so you won’t need a lot of time to do this. Your only betting options in most cases are to opt for the Player to win, the Banker to win, or for a Tie to happen. In some games, a side bet gives you another possibility, and we will look at that in a moment too.

The winning hand is the one that gets closest to 9 once the cards have been dealt. It is really a game of chance, so you have no way of influence the outcome or of knowing which hand is going to win before the cards are dealt. Therefore, the best baccarat strategy has to be built solely on which result would give you the best win and has the best chance of coming up.

Top 5 online baccarat casinos

#	Online Casino	Rating	Bonus*	Games	Visit
1	888casino	Rating: 5	Bonus: £100	Games: 300+	888casino Review
2	Miami Club	Rating: 5	Bonus: $800	Games: 120+	Miami Club Review
3	Sloto’Cash	Rating: 4.5	Bonus: 200% jackpot bonus	Games: 150+	Sloto’Cash Review
4	Uptown Aces	Rating: 4.5	Bonus: $4,000	Games: 150+	Uptown Aces Review

*18+ T&Cs apply! Click "Play now" for details

Look at the RTP When Choosing a Baccarat Betting Strategy

The return to player (RTP) is a crucial factor in any casino game. This is the number that lets you see the chances of getting your money back, and the closer it is to 100%, the better your chances of a win.What makes baccarat so interesting for gamblers is that both the Player and Banker bets are very close to 100%, so you expect to win almost as often as you lose.

In either case, you get a 1 to 1 win, meaning that you get your stake back and then the same amount again. However, the Banker’s hand has a slight advantage due to the way that the cards are dealt, so a 5% commission will usually be taken off any win on this bet. Unless you place a big stake, the winnings tend to grow slowly over a number of games.

A baccarat winning strategy won’t include betting on a Tie, though. This is because it has a hefty house edge, leading to an RTP of under 86%. The potential win is bigger in the case of a draw with an 8 to 1 payout common, but it just doesn’t happen often enough to make it a worthwhile wager.

The Banker Bet

As we have seen, the Banker bet is the most likely to come up frequently due to the fact that the rules for drawing a third card slightly favor this outcome. However, it also gives the lowest payout when you win with it, so you might need to place a big stake or else play for a while if you hope to earn a big profit.

This means that you should win regularly but with a relatively small profit on each occasion. Is it worth including this bet as part of your baccarat strategy? Many experts believe that this is the best bet to make, as the mathematical possibilities of it coming up are good even after many games.

The law of large numbers means that the more games you play of baccarat, the closer you should get to the theoretical RTP. So, you should get close to 99% back if you play lots of games but with enough scope of variations to mean that you could come out ahead if the cards fall right for you. If you are going to play a lot of hands, it appears to make the most sense to use this bet rather than the others.

The Player Bet

The next thing to look at in this baccarat strategy guide is whether you should ever bet on the Player to win a hand. Based on what we have seen so far, we can say that this bet offers a better return than the Banker bet but less than the Tie.

It is also slightly less likely than the Banker to win, but a lot more likely than the Tie. Where does this leave us?

This might make it seem like an in-between bet that doesn’t really fit in with any sort of baccarat winning strategy at all. Yet, there is a situation when wagering on the Player to win could make sense.

This is when you use a progressive strategy, as the commission that is taken off Banker wins makes that option less interesting for using wagers with an increase in the stake each time.

The Tie Bet

A serious player with a decent baccarat pattern strategy won’t ever bet on the Tie. The large house edge makes it extremely unlikely that you will walk away with more than you started with. However, an inexperienced player might be tempted to give it a try based on the generous-looking payout potential it has.

It is worth remembering that the Tie doesn’t happen often in baccarat. At first glance, it might seem as likely to occur as either hand winning, but the third card rule means that this outcome is rarely seen. Is there a situation for using the Tie as part of a sensible baccarat strategy? Probably not, although if you want to try and quickly multiply your stake on just a few hands, then you might be tempted.

Give It a Try with Dummy Money

Thankfully, you can now do this very easily online by looking for free baccarat games where you can play with dummy money. This lets you play as often as you want to, to see what happens without putting your own money at risk.

Even an experienced player can use this approach as a way of testing out a possible new baccarat winning strategy for the first time. If it works out well, then they might decide that the time is right to place it with real money the next time.

Start Your Baccarat Betting Strategy Journey with Low Stakes

Another decent strategy for baccarat beginners is to start playing with modest stakes. This gives you the chance to get a real cash win but without putting too much of your own money on the line. It is more exciting than using dummy money for sure, but it has the same sort of low-risk appeal that may make a lot of sense to you at the start.

Remember that if you are following a baccarat pattern strategy, you need to pay attention and keep notes. If you can work out how to win regularly with small stakes, you will want to understand what you did so that you can repeat it with more money on the wagers.

Are Baccarat Side Bets Worth It?

Side bets aren’t as common in baccarat as they are in games like blackjack. Those that you might see include Perfect Pairs and Super 6. As with the Tie bet, these are wagers that tempt players with big returns, but they don’t come up very often at all. Therefore, they aren’t great for a baccarat betting strategy.

You should always check the RTP of any side bet that you are considering. Typically, this is lower than on the Banker or Player bets, often substantially so. With a low probability of coming up, these side bets are generally of poor value, and you would really be relying upon getting very lucky to win money on one of them. The more you play them, the lower your chances of coming out ahead in the end, but you might fancy your chances on a small number of hands.

Remember It Is a Game of Luck

This baccarat strategy guide has looked at the possibilities of each type of bet winning. Yet, we can’t forget that it is essentially a game of chance and luck. There is no scientific way of knowing what will happen next, and winning or losing streaks can happen in baccarat as in any other type of casino game.

Is there any strategy to baccarat? Yes, but there is none that will guarantee you win every time that you play.

Above all else, baccarat is a hugely enjoyable card game that gives players the tantalizing prospect of winning regularly.

If you are serious about looking to win money at it, then hopefully, the advice in this guide helps you find an approach that works for you.

Disclaimer

The offers displayed on onlinebaccaratcasinos.com are subject to individual website’s terms and conditions. 18+ players only. Please read the fine print carefully before availing an offer because wagering requirements may apply. All content available on the website has been accumulated through open sources and the website does not take any responsibility for any discrepancies and does not affirm to the correctness of the text, graphics, images, etc. of any form. We do not take any responsibility for any financial losses that players may face on any site advertised here.