Baccarat is one of the most celebrated casino games worldwide. The casino classic draws in players from many backgrounds and walks of life, especially outside the United States.
In Macau, the gambling capital of the world, baccarat tables cover casino floors from one end to another. Yet American gamblers haven’t quite caught the baccarat fever.
The diminished number of players enjoying baccarat on a regular basis leaves the door open for all manners of misinformation surrounding the game. Still, baccarat remains clearly one of the best options for players of all skill levels and financial means.
Don’t fall for these baccarat urban legends. The game is easily accessible and can provide hours or years of enjoyment for all casino guests.
The Game Is Difficult to Pick Up
One of the most significant and widespread misconceptions about baccarat is that the game is challenging to learn. That urban legend keeps newer players at bay for fear of losing their entire bankroll or, even worse, looking foolish.
Baccarat does have some complicated scoring. The scoring is developed to favor the house slightly and doesn’t have any impact on gameplay for the gambler.
The dealer is responsible for knowing the scoring system, not the player. I can hardly find a situation where a player with an intimate knowledge of baccarat rules holds an advantage over other players.
That’s because, at its core, baccarat is essentially a coin toss. The game is left 100% to chance.
So, because the dealer takes care of all of the heavy liftings and the player merely makes a choice to bet on the banker or the player, knowing how to score a hand once it’s been dealt provides no strategic advantage.
Simplicity and chance are what make baccarat such a popular game in some areas of the world. Gamblers want to play a game where their fate is decided by luck, and that’s what baccarat provides.
Baccarat Is Designed for the Ultra-Wealthy
Playing Baccarat Like a ProFor centuries, baccarat was considered a game for the elite. Men and women with vast cash surpluses would sit around the large baccarat tables for hours enjoying cocktails and losing or winning small fortunes.
That image still remains today in casinos across the globe. Casinos exist by providing a fantastic entertainment value. So, they want to hold onto some of the aristocratic roots of the casino online games where possible.
Suppose they can provide the middle class with an opportunity to feel like they’re in the midst of the lifestyles of the rich and famous. In that case, the players will gamble more and return more often. Many people want to feel like they’re part of higher society.
Baccarat provides that elusive feel of culture and high society, but it doesn’t have to break the bank. In just about any casino worth its salt, players can sit down to a baccarat table and enjoy a game at $10 per hand.
Some casinos start the table minimums at $25, but with a house edge below 1.4%, you shouldn’t be scared away.
While baccarat may have originated as a game for the ultra-wealthy and remains portrayed as such in Bond films, casinos cater to their base. That means they’ve made the game accessible for regular folks like you and me.
Betting Systems Will Increase Your Odds
To tell you the truth, betting systems bring me down. I dislike them because they take players that could enjoy a lifelong passion for casino gambling and turn them the other way.
Worse yet, the scorned player becomes so sure that they’ll find a way to out bet the casino that they chase the illusion to complete financial ruin.
If there were any way to beat the casino by varying the way you bet, the casinos would close the table or change the rules. They’d never leave a game on the floor that could be beaten by doubling your wager after a loss.
When players engage in systems that employ varied bet sizes, they start losing twice as fast. The end result of their strategy is either bankrupting their bankroll or hitting the table’s max bet and being forced to eat the excessive losses.
Baccarat is a straightforward game. There’s no need to blow through your money any faster than the slow draw the house edge provides.
You Can Count Cards to Gain an Edge
Poker CardsCard counting is a profitable advantage technique used by blackjack players to gain an edge on the casino. The tactic can be used to achieve a long-term edge over the house.
Card counters don’t win every time they’re at the blackjack table. Still, the mathematical advantage means they’ll make a profit eventually.
The same cannot be said for baccarat. There are ranges of numbers that will slide the probability towards the player or banker.
However, card counting is laborious. The attention and discipline needed to effectively keep an accurate count are hardly worth the slight advantage in return.
In fact, all players would be better suited to focusing their attention on things like bankroll management. Money management won’t tip the odds in your favor, but in a game with such a low house edge, it can keep you alive until you catch a winning streak.
If you’re going to put in the work to learn how to count cards, put your skillset to work in blackjack. Baccarat is a fantastic game for players looking to be entertained, but blackjack is better equipped to facilitate advantage gamblers.
You Should Alternate Your Bet for a Better Chance of Winning
Talk to any veteran baccarat player, and they’ll tell you that alternating your bet between the banker and the player is foolish.
Gamblers have a costly tendency to look for patterns where they don’t intend to exist. For example, if the player bet wins eight times in a row, many people assume that the next hand or two must shift towards the banker.
Probability suggests that 15 winning player hands in a row are unlikely. However, each and every result in baccarat is independent of all previous results.
This is the gambler’s fallacy, which follows the logic that it may somehow influence the following result because one result has happened.
The banker bet does have a lower house edge than the player bet at 1.04%. This difference is less than 0.25%, but enough to be felt at the tables.
The casinos try to sell the idea that players can make an informed decision by placing prominent displays at the baccarat tables showing previous results. You should ignore it entirely and bet the banker exclusively.
The Commission on Banker Bets Make It a Sucker Bet
House EdgeWhenever I talk to novice gamblers about the banker bet, I always get push back. There seems to be a prevailing sentiment that the banker bet is for sucker due to the commission on winning bets.
The banker bet does have a 5% commission on winning bets. That means if you’re betting $25 per hand on the banker, you still lose $25 when the player wins.
Yet, when the banker wins, you’re only winning $20. It does appear to be a raw deal at first glance.
However, the 5% commission is in place to give the house an advantage at all. Otherwise, savvy gamblers could bet the banker all night and be essentially guaranteed a profit.
So, when you hear that the house edge on the banker bet is only 1.04%, that’s accounting for the 5% commission on winners. The only actual sucker bet in baccarat is the “tie” bet, at least in most games.
The tie bet offers an inflated payout compared to the standard player/banker at 8:1. It also dramatically inflates the casino’s advantage to over 12%.
Miss Cleo herself couldn’t predict when a tie would occur to beat those odds. Again, stick to the banker bet, and you’ll avoid a ton of unnecessary losses at the baccarat table.
Only Whales Can Gain Anything of Value Playing Baccarat
Another urban legend surrounding baccarat is that only the high rollers and whales can gain anything of substance playing blackjack.
They assume that you must bet incredible sums of cash to make any money because the payout is a conservative 1:1 on the popular player bet and banker bet.
I wholly disagree. The amount you’re wagering will be based on your personal finances. That means if you’re playing for $10 per hand, a cash bonus of $300 would be pretty exciting.
Whales gamble with ridiculous piles of cash not for the money-making possibilities but for the thrill of the game. You don’t amass that kind of money by using casino games of chance as your investment portfolio.
Whales throw around millions because they can. It makes them feel something at the casino tables they may lack in the world. They play the game for fun. And if you can begin taking a similar approach, you’ll get far more entertainment for your money.