If you’ve seen enough James Bond movies, you know that baccarat is 007’s favorite casino game. Well, did you also know that baccarat or mini baccarat online is one of the oldest card games in the world and blackjack is actually a very simplified version of it? Baccarat is usually seen as a game that is difficult to understand and learn by most players, but this is not true. In fact, this game has very easy rules to learn, but it is very difficult to master. The baccarat professional players are a special group: They prefer to play against each other, not against the casino, and they like to use complex strategies.

If you haven’t played baccarat because it seemed “hard” to learn, you can start now: In this guide, we will explain the rules of this legendary card game and talk about the most useful baccarat betting strategies for both beginners and professionals who want to use those skills even in baccarat side bets or baccarat squeeze. After reading this guide, you’ll be able to play like James Bond: Are you ready to conquer the casino tables?

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Is There Any Strategy To Baccarat?

tactics and strategiesLike every card game, baccarat is a game where various strategies can be used. However, as is known, using a strategy gives much more effective results in certain card games: Baccarat is one of these games. In fact, you shouldn’t even play this game to beat the casino without using a baccarat gambling strategy: Otherwise, you won’t be able to understand what’s going on. Therefore, let’s start by explaining the rules of this game and give the answer to this question: What is baccarat gambling? Do you take insurance in blackjack? Or, simply put, how to play baccarat?

Baccarat is a game that first emerged in the 15th century, but it is still a controversial issue that it is discovered by the French or the Spanish. Like many other card games, it is thought to have been invented by sailors. There are three basic variants of the game and, although the basic rules are the same, features like card distribution are different in each variant. In this guide, we will talk about the most popular variant called “punto banco”. Other variants are known as “baccarat chemin de fer”, “Super Pan 9” and “baccarat Banque” respectively, but it is very difficult to find these variants except for casinos in France. In online casinos, almost always the punto banco variant is used. (For those who are curious, James Bond’s variant is chemin de fer.)

The Basic Baccarat Strategy And Rules

table with messageThe most distinguishing feature of baccarat is that it is played against another player, not against the casino.

So the house edge ratio of this game is literally zero: The casino joins the game only as a referee and in return, receives a 5% commission of the pot on the table. Each game takes place between a “banker” and a “player”. The banker is the dealer of the cards and the player bets against the banker. So, your goal is to defeat the banker.

Like the blackjack, each card in baccarat has a point value. You can find them in the following list:

  • 2 – 9: These are worth their face value
  • 10, K, Q, J: These have no value (zero points)
  • Aces: 1 point

The goal is to reach the highest possible point total using these cards, which is 9. In this respect, the game is similar to blackjack: Players start with two cards and check how many points they have. Asking for a third card is possible, but this is also the last card: You cannot get any more. A baccarat round takes quite a short time, and whoever comes closest to a total of 9 points wins. In this context, baccarat scores are determined by the right digits of the card totals. So the first digit is not taken into account. Let’s give a simple example: If you have two 9s, the sum of them is 18. But because only the right digit is taken into account, you actually have 8 points. As in blackjack, it is not possible to “bust” if your cards exceed a certain sum – only the right digit is taken into account, no matter how many points you have in total.

Bet Types And Related Strategies For Baccarat And How To Consistently Win At Baccarat

Let’s continue to explain the rules by giving a round sample:

  • The game starts and both sides take two cards. If one of the parties has reached 8 or 9 points at this stage, the game ends and the player with the highest score wins.
  • The player has to stand if he has 6 or 7 points in total. He can’t ask for a third card.
  • If the player has a score between 0 and 5 in total, he may ask for a third card.

In this case, the banker also has the right to request a third card. However, this may vary according to the player’s total score after getting the third card. The banker is subject to more stringent drawing rules. In the following table, you can see the draw rules that bind the banker.

THIRD CARD OF THE PLAYER

IF THE BANKER HAS

IF THE BANKER HAS

8
IF THE BANKER HAS
0 – 2: Draws
IF THE BANKER HAS
3 – 7: Stands
6 – 7
IF THE BANKER HAS
0 – 6: Draws
IF THE BANKER HAS
7: Stands
4 – 5
IF THE BANKER HAS
0 – 5: Draws
IF THE BANKER HAS
6 – 7: Stands
2 – 3
IF THE BANKER HAS
0 – 4: Draws
IF THE BANKER HAS
5 – 7: Stands
9 – 10
IF THE BANKER HAS
0 – 3: Draws
IF THE BANKER HAS
4 – 7: Stands

If these rules seem complex, remember that you can also see the same table on the baccarat tables. One of the reasons why baccarat is known as a complex game is that the draw rules binding the banker are very detailed.

After this explanation, we can begin to explain the types of bets. A baccarat game can end with one of the following three outcomes: Player wins, banker wins, and tie. It is possible to bet on each of these options. The interesting part is that even the player can bet against himself/herself. So as a player, you can still bet on that the banker will win the round: It is possible to compare this rule to the insurance bet in blackjack. Each of these betting options is open to all parties and forms the basis for baccarat betting system. Therefore, we will talk about them in more detail below: It is possible to say that there are several different baccarat winning systems for each type of betting.

Basic Baccarat Strategy A Simple Way To Win

winning at baccaratNow that we have explained the rules, we can now begin to identify a simple baccarat betting strategy. You can see our recommendations below for beginners. If you are already playing this game on a professional level, you can skip directly to the next chapter.

  • Learn How To Count Cards. Don’t worry, we don’t expect you to count cards at a “genius” level. Use systems, but know that some that work for blackjack don’t work for baccarat, like the Zen count blackjack system or Spanish 21 card counting. Baccarat is usually played with 8 decks, so even math savants will have trouble counting them all. But in a simple way, you can only count picture cards. This is not a difficult task, and you only need to remember the number of cards that appear. Each deck has 12 picture cards, so there is a total of 96 cards to keep track of. It is enough to keep a mental note by “counting down” from this number: You can easily remember how many picture cards are left in the deck at any moment of the game. The power of this strategy is that it will give you a basic idea of possible combinations and you can understand which bet will be more advantageous. This is the most important free baccarat strategy system you should know.
  • Play Smart And Don’t Look For Adventure. Most guides recommend the use of the “baccarat attack strategy”. However, baccarat is a game that the total stake can rise very fast. If you think that high-roller poker games have very high pots, you have not yet played baccarat: In this game, the total pot can rise to millions of dollars in seconds. This strategy makes you continue to increase the amount of bets as long as you win. The main idea of this strategy is that you will continue to win once you start winning – this is a stupid idea and it has no basis. Play with low wagers at the beginning and never place bets that might make you bankrupt.
  • Know Your Odds. Knowledge of probability calculations is the most important thing that will help you win the game. Baccarat is not a game where you try to defeat the banker: it is a game that requires you to make the best bet possible in every round. If you can analyze the table, you can still win a game by betting against yourself. We’ll give you more information about these baccarat odds use once topic below.

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Advanced Baccarat Strategy Guide

We can now move on to more detailed baccarat techniques and talk about baccarat systems that work. But for that, we need to first give information about payout and odds. You can find information on both topics in the following table.

BET NAME

PAYOUT

PROBABILITY

Player wins
PAYOUT
Player wins
PROBABILITY
0.45
Banker wins
PAYOUT
1:1 (*)
PROBABILITY
0.44
Tie
PAYOUT
1:8
PROBABILITY
0.09

(*) Minus the commission of the casino.

This table tells us:

  • The best-paying bet is the one with the lowest odds of winning. The tie bet has a house edge of 14.44% and this is a very high rate. Hence, the probability of winning this bet is unbelievably low. There is no such thing as baccarat tie bet strategy: The possibilities are too unfavorable to implement a tactic.
  • Player and banker bets are very close in terms of the probability of winning. The status of the table and deck will determine which one will the best option. If you are able to count cards at the basic level as we explained above, it will be easier to decide on this issue.
  • Since the possibilities are very close to each other, you will probably try to find a baccarat pattern during the game. Do not do this: For example, the banker won 10 times in a row does not mean that the player’s chances are increased in the eleventh round. Possibilities are determined from scratch in each round. Therefore, a tactic like baccarat strategy playing banker only will not work in the long run.
  • Statistically, player bets are more likely to win. However, this is not a guarantee: Each game is different and must be evaluated separately. In this context, in games with a small number of decks, player bets are always more likely to win. For this reason, try to choose games that are played with 6 or fewer decks.

Baccarat Strategy Tips: What Does Not Work

Truth be told, there are no baccarat strategies to win except for counting the cards. All of the baccarat winning tips that are available eventually fall into the “gamblers fallacy” category. In other words, if you think that there is a “hidden” winning method that gives 100% results every time, you are wrong: None of the casino games work that way. You can learn more about the workings of casino games from our online casino games guide.

Gamblers fallacy is the generic name given to beliefs that have no basis. It affects gamblers the most and the most common example is to believe that repeating a particular outcome over a long period of time will reduce its likelihood. For example, if you’ve played and lost twenty times in a row, you’ll believe that your chances will be higher at the twenty-first round, right?

As we mentioned above, this is a stupid idea. The best example of this is the 1324 Baccarat Strategy Review. This is actually a glorified Baccarat Martingale strategy and requires increasing the stake periodically. 1324 shows in which order you should increase or decrease the stakes. The basic idea of this tactic is that you will eventually win: So even if you lose it at the beginning, you’ll have a reward that can cover all your losses when you score a winning. While the general idea is true, the problem is that there is nothing that guarantees that you will win sooner or later. You can play baccarat games all night long and lose all of them: This kind of progressive tactics will cause you to go bankrupt in a very short time. A similar situation applies to the combat strategy. This tactic requires you to bet on certain patterns. But there is no reason to switch combat strategy: In reality, such tactics only cause you to lose money.

The most important thing you need to know is that you can increase your chances of winning, but there is never a tactic to provides a guaranteed result. In this context, a new betting strategy for baccarat has not been developed. This game has a history of nearly 500 years and people already did the math: All existing “systems” are a copy of unfounded analyses such as Martingale and Dalembert.

Short And Dirty Version: How To Win In Baccarat Strategy

But don’t worry: Maybe none of these tactics are useful, but as we mentioned above, you can still increase your chances of winning. Below, you can find recommendations for both beginners and professionals. These tips will not give 100% results – it is not possible to do anything like this, after all. However, in any case, your chances of winning will increase slightly.

  • Practice First. Baccarat is a complex game and it will take you too long to truly master. If you use real money during this time, your losses may be quite high. Therefore, while practicing, choose demo versions of online baccarat games. They are exactly the same as the real money games in terms of rules and chances of winning. In this way, you can learn the game without taking a financial risk and you can understand whether some tactics really work or not.
  • You Don’t Need To Go Land-Based Casinos. Baccarat is a more enjoyable game when played against a real opponent. The demo versions mentioned above are played against the computer, so your opponent is actually a “software”. But you don’t need to go to land-based casinos to play against real opponents. With live baccarat games such as Speed Baccarat, you can get the same experience at home. In these games, a real dealer launches a broadcast over the internet and it is possible to join it anywhere in the world. Because live games have lower betting limits, you don’t need to spend a fortune too.
  • Read Books. No, Really. Baccarat is a game that uses complex mathematical formulas and you need to do “old-school” research to fully learn it. This means that you should read a baccarat strategy book. With a simple online search, you can find dozens of these books. Because the authors of these books are professional gamblers, they give practical advice which will be useful in real games.

Pros And Cons Of Baccarat Betting Strategies

If you do not know what you are doing, using “guaranteed” baccarat strategies may be bad for you – as explained above, they can cause you to increase the total bet amount quickly. However, using simple strategies is still good, as they let you know which bets will be better in advance. Below, you can see the advantages and disadvantages of these strategies.

PROS
  • It is possible to increase your winning chances
  • Counting cards always work
  • Let’s you learn which bets are better
CONS
  • It may take a very long time to learn them all
  • You have to respect 100% your bankroll management

Baccarat Casino Games Strategy FAQ

No. Please do not send your strategy to us – we already have enough. 1324, 1236, combat, bet on a tie, bet on banker, attack, defend, etc. etc… Believe us, we know them all and we tested each of them multiple times. None of them work, it is as simple as that.
Baccarat is nearly 500 hundred years old. And for some reason, players think that someone will discover a new tactic in 2019 that will guarantee a winning. Unfortunately, 2019 tactics are still the same as 1819 tactics: Just count the cards and leave the rest to chance.
Most of those articles focus on possible winnings. It is true that tie bet pays the most but it is also the one with the lowest winning odds. As explained above, the house edge rate of this bet surpasses 14%.
Depends on how many cards left in the deck. There is no single answer to this question: Each game is different than the other and the best bet will be different too. Statistically, player bets are slightly better but the difference is very low.
One? We can give you two. First, learn how to count cards, this is of crucial importance. The better you are at this job, the higher your winning chances will be. We are not kidding: Have you watched a movie where savants count the cards and win every blackjack game?

Pick The Best Baccarat Strategy And Start Winning

Now, you are ready to play baccarat like a pro and you know what to do: It is time to start playing. Pick one of our recommended casinos to play: All of them offer you a safe, secure, and fun environment to gamble. Baccarat may become your favorite card game – it certainly has the potential for it, but for more info, you can also read Baccarat bankroll management. Start playing right now and remember to check our site often: We regularly update our content with strategies, such as: keno strategy, 20 card keno strategy, blackjack strategy, craps strategy and many more casino games. Good luck!

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