Essential Baccarat Winning Strategies

Want to boost your performance at the baccarat table? These important tips will see you become an expert at this exciting casino game

Baccarat is one of the most famous card games in online and land-based casinos, and if you’re interested in learning more about some of the winning strategies in this game, you’ve come to the right place.

In this article, we’ll cover the three bets that exist in baccarat and everything you need to know about them to maximize your playing experience and avoid all the pitfalls of making bad bets. Moreover, we’ll cover some of the money management systems and discuss the concept of a winning baccarat strategy. Read on. 

The three bets in baccarat explained

For those who are completely unfamiliar with the game, three possible baccarat bets are made before a round begins. You can bet on the player, the banker, or the tie. If you bet on the player, you’re assuming that you’re going to win in the next round, and if you bet on the banker, you assume that the dealer will be the winner. Of course, there’s always an option that a tie might happen.

The first strategy, which is usually the most dominant one in baccarat, is to bet on the option that has the most chances of winning. Here’s a quick overview of the probabilities for every bet:

• The player – 44.61%
• The banker – 45.84%
• The tie – 9.45%

As you can see, the statistical probability for the banker winning the round is the highest. Even though it’s similar to the player, there’s a small difference, which tends to mean a lot in repeated games of chance. After al, small house edges are how casinos make a profit!

Commission on playing the banker

In most baccarat strategies, the two bets taken into account are the player and the banker bet. If you’re betting on the tie, you’re probably losing your money, and you’re increasing the overall house edge of the game. 

Still, to even the player and the banker bet, casinos usually charge a 5% commission whenever you bet on the banker. When you do the calculations again, you’ll notice that there’s now a very tiny difference between the banker and the player bet. Despite all that, many strategies still advise that betting on the banker is the best approach if you want to maximize your experience. 

Why you shouldn’t place a tie bet

The tie bet occurs far less frequently compared to the player or the dealer winning. Even though it offers a higher payout (8:1 as opposed to 1:1 on the player and 0.95:1 for the banker), it’s still statistically much less likely to bring you profit over the long term.

Even though baccarat is a game of chance, you should still not approach it as such if you want to get the most out of it. Therefore, by making the tie bet, you’re completely relying on the element of luck. Quite simply, no baccarat strategy or betting system will ever use the tie bet as a basis.

Beware of commission-free baccarat 

Many players fall for the trap of opting for commission-free baccarat games. The problem is that the payouts are slightly altered, even though you do not pay commission for betting on the banker. If you take them into account and calculate the house edge, you’ll notice that it’s even higher compared to the standard version of baccarat.

The standard baccarat variation’s lowest house edge is 1.06%, and it goes up to 4.07% in no commission baccarat games. DON'T PLAY THIS VERSION!

Popular positive and negative progression money management systems

One of the most reliable ways to master your baccarat is to manage your bankroll properly and keep track of how much you bet, lose and win. That is possible thanks to popular progression money management systems. All of them have in common the rule that you’ll have to adjust your bet based on whether you win or lose. 

The positive progression system includes increasing your bet whenever you win a round. The negative system is the opposite – you only increase your bet when you lose and decrease it when winning.

Here are some of the most popular systems to consider:

• Martingale
• Fibonacci
• Labouchere
• D’Alembert

Feel free to explore these systems and find the one that suits you. Please remember that these are not strategies for winning but merely an option to manage your bankroll better. In other words, they cannot help you increase your chances of winning in baccarat or any other gambling game where it’s possible to apply them.

The best winning baccarat strategy

As previously stated, baccarat is a game of chance, so there’s no single strategy that can help you secure success, as a lot of outcomes are determined by sheer luck. The best baccarat strategy you can use is to keep consistent with one bet — the player or the banker — and combine it with one of the progressive betting systems. That way, you’ll have the maximum control when playing the popular card game, but that’s still not a guarantee that your session will be profitable in the end.

If things don’t go your way, it’s important not to chase losses, keep your head cool, and walk away as soon as you reach the pre-determined budget limit. Once you master self-control and combine it with other things mentioned in this article, you’ll have the best possible experience and get all the joy of playing baccarat without sliding into a potential gambling problem.

Where to play baccarat

There are many different ways to play baccarat. The most traditional one is in a land-based casino on a special baccarat table with a dealer. However, if going to a casino isn’t an option for you, you can always play baccarat in one of the online casinos.

If you decide to opt for an online casino, you can choose between RNG baccarat and live dealer baccarat.

RNG baccarat is wholly automated and uses Random Number Generators to determine the outcome, just line in online slots and other RNG games. However, if you like seeing real cards and a real dealer, you should consider playing a live baccarat game. Please note that not all online casinos feature live dealer games, although they are rolling out across most states.

Discover where to play live baccarat