Baccarat is a card game that uses 8 decks during play.  In this game 10s and face cards have a value of 0, aces have a value of 1 and all other cards have a value equal to the number shown on the card.  Each better will place their bet on either the player or the banker and the dealer deals two cards to the player and the banker.  The total of the two cards is added up and the score for that hand is the right hand digit of the total.  For example a total of 15 yields a score of 5.  Both the player and the banker stand if their initial score is 8 or 9 and the player hits when their score is 5 or less.  The banker will hit on a score of 5 or less if the player stands.  When the player hits, whether or not the banker hits becomes more complicated and is determined from a combination of the bankers original score and the player’s third card.  The table below summarizes when the banker hits and when the banker stands with hits represented as green Hs and stands represented as red Ss.

Baccarat is one of the games in a casino that offers the best odds to the players.  The bank and player bets offer a 1.064% and 1.228% advantage to the house respectively making these two bets some of the best odds you will find in a casino.  You also have the option for tie bets but these bets offer a much higher advantage to the house and these bets are therefore not recommended.  Each player bets on the player, banker or a tie with a tie being the bet with the least favorable odds.  The winner is the one with the higher score and winning bets on the banker payout at 19:20 while winning bets on the player payout at 1:1.  Bets on the banker may also be paid out at 1:1 with a 5% commission.  In this instance, the dealer keeps track of the commission you owe and you are assessed this amount when you cash out at the table.  For this reason, it is recommended that you not leave the table without any remaining funds or you may wind up owing money to the house.  The table below illustrates the odds that baccarat offers.

Betting Strategies

There are many betting strategies and there are betters who find success and failure with all but one popular strategy is the 1 – 3 – 2 – 6 strategy.  This strategy is effective for games that payout at 1:1 but it is important to remember that this is a short term strategy and you should call it quits when you earn a profit before you end up losing everything back to the house.  In this strategy the first bet is one chip.  If you win, you will then have three chips on the table.  Invest them all in the second game.  Another win, leaves you with 6 chips on the table.  At this point, you take back 4 and play the remaining two.  Then if you win the third bet, place a 6 chip bet on the fourth game.  A win on the fourth game yields an overall profit of 10 chips.  With this system the losses are minor and the wins a little more significant but not exorbitant.  This is a conservative strategy that can be effective in the short term.  It is still recommended that you establish both a loss and profit margin at which you will quit playing and stick to this amount.