Baccarat Strategy

A comprehensive guide to baccarat strategy.

Baccarat Top Tips

There's no real strategy you can use to win at baccarat.
However, the best bet is the banker bet with a house edge of just 1.06%.

As with all gambling games, the first thing to remember about baccarat is that any hand that's dealt is unaffected by previous hands. In the case of baccarat and its strategies, if the banker wins ten hands in a row, the banker’s chances for the next hand are no different than if he’d lost the last ten. In gambling, the idea that previous random events will affect the outcome of future random events is referred to as the “gambler’s fallacy” and unfortunately causes many new gamblers to alter their betting pattern.

The second and probably last thing to remember in baccarat strategy is never to place a bet on a tie. Tie bets will almost certainly pay out 8-to-1, but even when paying 9-to-1, it’s still not a good bet. Tie bets paying out 8-to-1 give the casino an edge of over 14%, which will probably be one of the worst bets in any casino featuring this game.

Even if a player is lucky enough to find a casino that pays 9-to-1 for a tie bet, the bet still gives the house an edge of around 5% — as opposed to the player and the banker bets, which give the house slightly over 1% edge each. Therefore, Casino Edge recommends that you never bet on a tie.

The banker has a slightly lower house edge (just a fraction of a percent), which for most casual players is negligible. However, winning bets on the banker are often subject to a 5% commission for the casino.

Admittedly, if a decision had to be made to put all future bets on player or banker, the latter should technically win slightly more. However, it’s common sense that the banker can't win all the time, so, in order to disrupt the distribution pattern that reflects a player’s expected loss over time, it’s a better idea to try to guess what pattern will come out (bearing in mind that over a long time both will reflect the same).

It’s also important to remember that, whatever pattern does come out, it has no relation to anything other than random events (unless taking into account the physics behind how the deck of cards were shuffled).

The bottom line is that there's no real strategy that can be played to increase a player’s odds, as there are no decisions for the player to make. This is a game where knowing what’s going on isn’t necessary. However, it's worth being aware that betting on a tie is always a bad move.

Casino Edge Recommends:

Learn the game rules to enhance your enjoyment of this glamorous game.
Manage your bankroll carefully and don't get carried away.
Never fall foul to the "gambler's fallacy" by believing previous bets will affect current of future bets.
Never bet on a tie!