Baccarat Strategy and How to Implement it in Your Games
By Space Coast Daily // July 5, 2021
Baccarat is one of the most popular card games online and in land-based casinos. The game offers a low house edge (or house advantage) and more chances of winning than most other casino card games like Blackjack, Craps and Poker.
Baccarat is easy to master with few rules. If a player implements the best baccarat strategy the positives are threefold, increasing not only the player’s bankroll but also the odds of a win and increasing the level of fun and entertainment from playing. This is why the game is continuing to show a growth in popularity online and in land-based casinos.
Gameplay
One of the best games for those who are new to casino games, Baccarat strategies can increase the odds of a win even though the game has just three possible outcomes per hand, a banker win, a player win and a tie.
Baccarat Payouts
A winning player hand, being closer to nine than the banker hand wins 1:1. A banker bet is an evens bet which means the original bet is returned minus a five percent house commission. If there is a tie, neither the player nor banker loses. A winning tie bet is 8:1 but a terrible house edge of 14.36 percent. A banker bet has a house edge of 1.06 percent and a player hand has a house edge of 1.24 percent
Avoid a tie bet
A tie bet is enticing because it has the biggest payout but has the worst odds of winning. With a high house advantage players are likely to lose their bankroll fast.
Strategy
Always bet on the banker
The safest baccarat strategy is to always wager on the banker’s hand according to the principle of mathematical probability. The return to player percentage (RTP) of a banker hand win is 98.94 percent which is slightly better than a player hand bet with an RTP of 98.76 percent. The RTP of a tie bet is 85.64 percent.
Other mathematical calculations for baccarat players opening with eight standard 52-card decks will see a banker’s hand win 45.87 percent of the time and the player hand win 44.63 percent of the time. The chance of a tie is 9.51 percent. Remove all tie bets and the banker’s hand wins 50.68 percent of the time and the player hand wins 49.32 percent of the time. This is why there is a five percent house commission on all winning bets on the banker’s hand.
Martingale System
The Martingale System derives from the law of averages which assumes a particular hand will win at some point. When a bet is lost the next wager (on the same hand) should be double the bet lost. The bets are doubled at each loss until a win. This strategy needs a big bankroll and a large table limit to reduce the risk of losing all your money.
The Labouchere System
The Labouchere system is also known as the American Progression, the Cancellation System, or the Split Martingale. This is more complex and needs to be fully understood before risking money. This is a negative progression system, that suggests increasing the wager after every lost bet so that the punter can recoup losses from a losing streak with a few wins.
Other systems
The D’Alembert system is similar to the Martingale System in recouping lost bets, but without the steep losses that can be experienced with Martingale. The Paroli baccarat strategy is the reverse of the Martingale system and the Fibonacci strategy is another number sequence system to follow after lost bets.
