Best Baccarat Strategies

Baccarat is renowned for its elegant simplicity, but because of it, the outcome of each coup depends mostly on luck. Still, while Baccarat isn’t the best game for advantage play, it does leave some space for strategy.

In Punto Banco Baccarat, the house edge typically amounts to 1.06% for Banker, 1.24% for Player and about 14.4% for Tie bets. The high house edge on Tie bets is somewhat balanced by the fact that Tie winnings pay at 8 – 1 or 9 – 1. These odds dictate the simplest strategy: betting on Banker gives you the best chance to win, and betting on Tie the lowest.

However, John May, a Baccarat expert, recommends a card counting method which can increase your advantage when betting on Tie. Every time an odd card is played, you mentally add +1. When the sum reaches 160, it means all odd cards have been removed, giving you a 62% advantage on Tie bets.

Another option includes riding the trends, which is a fun, non-scientific strategy. Observe the game and you’ll notice that coups typically line up into Banker streaks or Player streaks. Bet accordingly.

In Chemin de Fer, the gambler acting as Banker freely chooses whether to take a third card. In Baccarat Banque, the Player role is dealt two hands. The gamblers cannot bet on Banker, but choose one Player hand instead. (Or bet on both of them!) These Baccarat versions will allow more room for gambling skills, but unless you live in Europe, you won’t easily find a casino that hosts them.

All in all, keep in mind that Baccarat is primarily designed to offer some fun with high stakes – and is perfect when you want a break from more demanding casino games.