Baccarat Strategy  - Learn how to play and win Baccarat and Mini-Baccarat 
  Baccarat Strategy Guide
Learn  to play and Win Casino Games !
Learn how to Win at Baccarat and Mini-Baccarat
Baccarat Strategy

Baccarat- The Grand Game

 

How to Win at Baccarat     Card Counting in Baccarat    Mini-Baccarat 

 

Baccarat is considered the grandest of casino games.  It is simple to play and offers some of the best odds in the casino, but it is usually played for very high stakes.  Many casinos now offer a low stakes version of the game called mini-baccarat as well.
The object  is to guess which hand will total closest to 9

Game Play 

  • You place a bet on either the BANKER or the PLAYER (i.e. Who do you think will come closer to 9, the Player or the Bank), or you can bet on a TIE (Banker and Player have the same total).
  • The dealer draws two hands of two cards* each, one representing the Player and one representing the Bank (dealer).
  • The hand which comes closest to 9 is the winner.
  • All Wagers for the BANK or PLAYER pay even money; TIES pay 8 to 1.
  • Casinos will usually charge a 5% commission on winning "Banker" bets 
Card values:

All cards count as their face value (3 of Hearts equals 3, 5 of Spades equals 5, etc.).  Tens and  face cards( J, Q, K,) count as zero Ace counts as 1.

If the total of the cards drawn equals to an amount of 10 or greater, only the last digit counts.

Example:  5+7=12 therefore this hand counts as 2 since the last digit is 2

.* Sometimes a third or even fourth card could be required by either the Player or the Banker.

Drawing from the deck:
  Unlike other card games in the casino, neither the player nor the Casino has any input or control as to whether to hit or stand.  Both sides must follow the the rules of drawing which are summarized below:

It is not really necessary to memorize these rules as the dealers will take care of that for you.  All the player needs to do is make the initial wager then see the outcome of the hand.

Player
 2 Card Total Player Must
0,1,2,3,4,5 Draw another card
6,7 Stand
8,9 Stand (Natural)
 Banker
2 Card Total Banker Must
0,1,2,3,4,5 Draw 1 card
6,7 Stand
8,9 Stand (Natural)
If either the player or the banker has a natural, the hand ends and the hand holding the natural is the winner.  A natural of 9 is called  "le grand" and will beat a natural of 8 which is called "le petit".

When the player draws a third card the Banker will draw according to the following rules. 
Banker 2- Card Total Banker will draw if  Players third card is: Banker will stand if Players third card is:
0,1,2 Always Draw Always Draw
3 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9 8
4 2,3,4,5,6,7 0,1,8,9
5 4,5,6,7 0,1,2,3,8,9
6 6,7 0,1,2,3,4,5,8,9
7,8,9 Always Stand Always Stand

Play Baccarat at Diamond Club Casino 
Play Baccarat and Win
Free Download!  98% Payouts!

FEATURES:

  • Single and Multi Player Games

  • Most realistic software available

  • Excellent Table Games

  • Free Download

  • Play for Fun or Real Money

REAL PLAYERS GET:

  • $20 Welcome Bonus

  • 2x Odds bets on Craps
  • 98.12% Payouts (May 2004)
  • Player Reward Points
  • Frequent Prize Drawings

Play Baccarat Online At: 

Diamond Club Casino  
Real Players Get:

  • $20 Welcome Bonus
  • 2x Odds bets on Craps
  • 98.12% Payouts (May 2004)
  • Player Reward Points
  • Prize Drawings

Play Baccarat Online


Lucky Nugget Casino

Real Players Get:

  • 97.03% Payouts (April 2004)
  • $200 Welcome Bonus
  • Frequent Prize Drawings
  • Free Gifts and Casino Credits based on your level of play.

 


Omni Casino
Real Players Get:

  • 97.94% Payouts (May 2004)
  • $100 Welcome Bonus
  • Free Casino Credits based on your level of play.
  • Rewards Program that features discounts on travel to real casinos.

River Belle Casino

Climb Aboard and

Get $100 Free!


Casino Treasure

Get $25  Free!


The Gaming Club

Get up to $500 Free! 


Baccarat Online 

 How to Win at Baccarat

  1) Find a low commission game

  The single best thing you can do to improve your chances at winning money at Baccarat is to find a casino with lower commissions on winning Bank bets.  The following chart illustrates just how important this is:  

Casino Advantage on Baccarat Bets
Commission  Bet on Banker Bet on Player Bet on Tie
6% 1.52% 1.36% 14.36%
5% 1.17% 1.36% 14.36%
4% 0.67% 1.36% 14.36%
3% 0.15% 1.36% 14.36%
1% -.77%
(Player Advantage)
1.36% 14.36%
No Commission -1.23%
(Player Advantage)
1.36% 14.36%
  As you can see the house advantage on the Tie and Player bets remains static but the house advantage on the Banker goes down as the commission is reduced.  Below are some general observations concerning where to play:

Never play Baccarat in a casino that charges a 6% commission, 5% is the industry standard to don't pay more. 

Several casinos in Las Vegas (try the Horseshoe, downtown) offer 3% and 4% games so shop around.

Occasionally, to attract players some Casinos may offer commission free Baccarat for a limited time promotion.  If you are around when this happens you may want to try your luck as the player will actually have the advantage under those circumstances.

Play Baccarat at Lucky Nugget Casino 
Play and Win Baccarat at Lucky Nugget
HUGE PRIZE JACKPOTS!

FEATURES: 

  • 50+ Casino Games
  • Single Deck Blackjack
  • Multi-Hand Blackjack
  • Progressive Video Poker
  • Single-Zero Roulette
  • Large selection of Slots
  • Free Download
  • Play for Fun or Real Money

REAL PLAYERS GET:

  • 97.03% Payouts (April 2004)
  • $200 Welcome Bonus
  • Frequent Prize Drawings
  • Free Gifts and Casino Credits based on your level of play.

 

 2) Which Hand to Bet On?

  There are two schools of thought as to which hand to bet on in Baccarat.  One system say to bet on the hand that won the last game as Baccarat is a game of streaks so go with the trend that is winning.  Another philosophy says to simply bet on the Banker every hand (assuming a 5% or lower commission) since the Banker hand offers the lowest house advantage.  In the long run you are probably better off just betting on the banker but some people have won huge sums of money using the trending system so it may just be a matter of personal taste.

3) Read Professional Guidebooks.  These books can go into much greater depth than is possible on a web page.  Your chances of success improve as your knowledge of the game does.  Below is a list of  recommended guidebooks, more books are available in the casino bookstore
 
  

Baccarat Battle Book Baccarat Battle Book

Considered by many to be the best book about the game.

Baccarat for the Clueless

Very informative. A great primer for the game.

Baccarat for the Clueless
Baccarat Lyle Stuart on Baccarat

Baccarat master Lyle Stuart explains how he was able to win $250,000 playing Baccarat in Atlantic City

 

Winning Baccarat- Effective Counting in Baccarat 

Learn how to count cards in Baccarat! Detailed information on the subject.

 

Card Counting in Baccarat
4) Practice, Practice, Practice.  As with any game, the more you play the better you get.  Practice as much as you can at home before you put your money on the line in a real casino.  
baccarat Casino Software from Diamond Club Casino. The most realistic software available.  Highly recommended. Hoyle Casino 2003 
Excellent all around Casino training software.
Baccarat with Hoyle Casino 2003
Omni Casino offer Free Baccarat Download Free Software from Omni Casino Free Software from Lucky Nugget Casino will let you practice Baccarat. Play Casino Baccarat
5) Comps can put you over the top. Casinos offer comps to their players much the same way airlines offer frequent flyer miles to reward their customers.  Casino comps are usually  given out in the form of room, food, or beverage discounts or even free show tickets.  As a general rule of thumb, casinos will give about 1% of the value of your total play back in the form of comps (each casino has its own policies but this number will give you an idea what you are dealing with).  For more details on Comps click here.

Let's look at an example of how this would work:

 If you have played 100 hands of baccarat at $100 a hand you would have bet a total of $10,000.  In general you can expect the casino to give you about 1% or about $100 in comps.  If you bet the bank hand every time at a casino charging a 4% commission on winning bank bets, you would be giving the casino a 0.67% advantage.  So on your $10,000 of bets you could expect to win $9933.  This means you would lose about $67 but when the $100 in comps are factored in, you would actually be ahead of the casino by $33. 

As a rule of thumb, when comps are figured into the equation, any game that gives the casino an advantage of less than 1% will allow the player to make money in the long run.

Play Baccarat Now at Omni Casino
Baccarat Online

FEATURES:

  • 33 Different Casino Games
  • Single and Multi-Player Games
  • Excellent Card and Table Games
  • Free Download
  • Play for Fun or Real Money
  • Full Feature Sports book

REAL PLAYERS GET:

  • 97.94% Payouts (May 2004)
  • $100 Welcome Bonus
  • Free Casino Credits based on your level of play.
  • Rewards Program that features discounts on travel to real casinos.

 

Can You Count Cards in Baccarat?

  For centuries people have asked this question and the best way to answer that question today is yes; no; and well, sort of.

  Card counting in Baccarat differs from card counting in Blackjack in that in Blackjack you are counting to see when the deck favors you as the player; when the deck is in your favor you increase the size of your bets and when it is not in your favor you decrease the size of your bets.  In Baccarat, the deck almost always favors the house so you  will never have to increase your bets as in Blackjack. When counting cards in Baccarat you are simply trying to determine which hand has the lower house advantage, in other words which hand will lose you the least amount of money, so you never really have a positive expectation.

Here is a simple card counting method you may want to try to improve your odds slightly:

 Start with a count of 0 and count according to the chart: 

Card  Point 
Ace +1
2 +1
3 +2
4 +2
5 -1
6 -2
7 -2
8 -1
9 0
10 0
Remember, like Blackjack you need to keep a running count so you must divide your point count by the number of decks remaining in the shoe.  For Example:  Your point count is 6 and there are about 3 decks remaining in the shoe to be dealt.  Your running count would be 2 ( 6 divided by 3).

Now whenever your count gets to -1 or lower you should bet on the Player.  When it gets to +1 or higher you should bet on the Banker.

Keep in mind this is not like card counting in Blackjack where you gain an advantage on the casino.  Here you are just trying to minimize your losses.

Finally it has to be said that even these methods  cut the house advantage only a small margin and many question if it is even worth the effort to count cards in Baccarat.

 

Play Baccarat at Diamond Club Casino 
Play Baccarat
Free Download!

FEATURES:

  • Single and Multi Player Games

  • Most realistic software available

  • Excellent Table Games

  • Free Download

  • Play for Fun or Real Money

REAL PLAYERS GET:

  • $20 Welcome Bonus

  • 2x Odds bets on Craps
  • 98.12% Payouts (May 2004)
  • Player Reward Points
  • Frequent Prize Drawings

 

Mini-Baccarat

 
  In an attempt to attract more players to the game of baccarat, many casinos have started offering a low stakes version of the game called mini-baccarat.  In most casinos, bets start at $5 for min-baccarat. The rules of mini-baccarat are identical to those of it's grander cousin, but there are some differences in the way the game is played.  In mini-baccarat, players sit around a table similar in appearance to a Blackjack table and only the dealer handles the cards. 

   It might be worth noting that because much of the ceremony of traditional baccarat has been taken out of the game, the pace of the game has been speeded up considerably.  Because the number of hands played in mini-baccarat is so much higher than in baccarat; it is entirely conceivable that a player at a $5 mini-baccarat table could spend more per hour than at player at a $25 baccarat table!

 
Games
Baccarat | Big Six Wheel | Bingo | Blackjack | Caribbean Stud Poker | Craps | Slot Machines | Keno | Let It Ride | Poker  | Video Poker | Pai Gow Poker | Red Dog | Roulette |  Sic Bo |Three Card Poker | Sports Book | Race Book |
Home | Online Casinos| Casino Vacations | Casino Bookstore