If you are reading this, it must mean that you are looking for a way to improve your Baccarat game. Well, you’ve come to the right place. Baccarat may be easy to learn and beginner friendly, but there are things that any Baccarat player should know.
In this piece, we’re going to tell you everything you need to know about Baccarat strategies, some betting tips, and how to manage your winnings and losses.
Baccarat is 100% luck-based
First and foremost, Baccarat is 100% luck and almost 0% skill. There’s nothing wrong with this, in fact, many players are drawn to this casino game because of this simple fact. Unlike Sports betting or other casino games, Baccarat requires no thinking, and when you set everything up, it can be quite relaxing.
That said, this also means that there really aren’t any tips or advanced strategies that can help you win more games.
The most we (or anyone else) can do is tell you what NOT to do, how to handle your bets, and a few other tips.
For now, all you need to know is that luck is your best friend in Baccarat, and if luck isn’t on your side, not even our tips will be able to help you. What CAN help you is being prepared if it simply isn’t your lucky day at the Baccarat table, and we’re going to help you do exactly that.
Before you continue with this guide, make sure you’re familiar with Baccarat’s basic rules. If not, our earlier blog on How to Play Baccarat is a must-read for a smooth learning journey.
The two basic Baccarat Strategies that every player should follow
As we’ve already said, there aren’t any advanced rules or strategies when it comes to playing Baccarat. With that said, there are two basic rules that all Baccarat players should know about.
Avoid the Tie Bet
Normally, players can either bet on the Player or the Banker. However, there is also a third bet type called The Tie Bet. The tie bet is usually hidden as a small button above the Banker, and the Player bet on a Baccarat table.
As the name suggests, the tie bet is when you bet that both the Banker and the Player will have the same sum at the end of the hand. The odds of winning this bet are usually 8 to 1, which is a pretty attractive bet as opposed to 1 on 1 bet with Player and Banker bets.
So, why should you avoid this bet? Two reasons:
- A tie rarely happens – a Tie is pretty rare in a Baccarat game. Simply play Baccarat for a few hours and count how many times a tie happens, and you’ll see exactly what we mean. It’s simply not worth placing this bet, no matter how attractive those 8 to 1 odds may look.
- There are no consequences if a tie does happen – In the unlikely event that a tie does happen, and you bet on either the Player or the Banker, there’s no need to worry. When a tie happens, all the Player and Banker bets are returned to the players, while only those who bet on a Tie win. So, even if you don’t win anything during a Tie, you don’t lose anything either.
Always place a Banker Bet over the Player Bet
It may not seem like a strategy, but many Baccarat players follow this simple rule: always bet on the Banker. Why should you always bet on the Banker? Simple, the Banker wins more often than the Player.
Allow us to explain.
It may seem like both the Player and the Banker have the exact same chances of winnings. However, the key difference is in the small details. The Banker bet has a lower house edge. While the house edge on the player bet is 1,24%, the Banker bet only has a 1,06%. In short, winning Banker bets are more common than winning Player bets. So how is this possible if these two bets are the same?
- The Banker goes last. It may not seem like such a huge deal, but it plays a major role in the long run.
- When the third card rule takes effect, the Banker gets a huge advantage. You can read about these rules in our How to Play Baccarat guide.
The only downside to betting on the Banker is the 5% commission for every bet won. If it weren’t for this commission, you could statistically win 51% of all your games, and the casinos really don’t want that, hence why the commission exists.
However, even with the commission, betting on the Banker over the Player is a no-brainer.
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Manage your fund and your bets
Now that you know the two basic rules, there isn’t anything else we can teach you to win more games. What we can do for you is help you prepare for those rainy days when you just aren’t winning enough games. And it all starts with preparing beforehand.
Pick your betting fund before you start gambling
This is extremely important not just in Baccarat but with any game in general. Unless you have unlimited amounts of money (and we’re going to assume that you don’t), you will want to prepare a Gambling fund.
Select an amount of money you would feel comfortable losing. If you are hoping that the winnings from Baccarat bets will help you pay for your next utility, grocery, or mortgage bill, please stop reading this and find a way to manage your basic needs before you dive into gambling.
If you can afford to gamble, just pick an amount and stick by it.
Once you deplete your gambling fund, simply stop playing and come back some other day when you can afford to do it again.
It’s incredibly simple to get into the mindset of “just one more hand” and continue playing until you’ve spent more than double what you wanted. If you feel like you might have a problem like this, then we suggest turning on some Responsible Gambling features, such as Financial limits. This is offered by almost all online casinos, but it’s off by default, so make sure it doesn’t stay that way.
Pick a betting unit
Once you’ve selected your entire gambling fund, you should select a betting unit. Depending on how many games you want to play and how much you can afford, a betting unit can be anywhere from $1 to $25 or even $100.
A betting unit is equal to one Banker/Player bet. It’s important to set up a betting unit because it will help you should you wish to use a Betting strategy later on.
Pick a target winning amount
So, let’s say it is your lucky day, and you win. If you continue to gamble, statistically, you will run out of money eventually. Here’s how you can avoid this from happening.
When you select your Gambling fund, you should also select your Winning target goal. This is the amount of money you’d like to win from your Baccarat session. A Winning target goal can be double your Gambling fund or even triple if you are bold.
Whatever amount you pick, stick to it. More importantly, if you happen to reach your target goal, simply stop right there and, preferably, withdraw your winnings.
As we mentioned before, even if you reach your winning amount and continue gambling (because you’re on a roll), you are bound to start losing soon. And there’s nothing worse than winning and then losing, especially when you HAD IT!
Pick a betting strategy
You can’t determine whether you will win or lose your next hand in Baccarat. However, you can still prepare for losses using one of the following betting strategies. Note these betting strategies aren’t only used in Baccarat and can be used in most casino games where the odds of winning are close to 50%.
Baccarat Betting Strategies
Down below, we’ve included three of our favorite betting strategies. These strategies use the positive or the negative progression system and are great for maintaining a winning streak while minimizing your losses. Please note just because these strategies are effective, they will not guarantee a win every time.
Baccarat is still a luck-based game through and through, and casinos don’t make money off of winners. These Baccarat betting systems work in all Baccarat games, regardless if they are online or on an actual Baccarat table.
The Martingale Strategy
If you’re just starting with betting strategies, you can’t go much simpler than the Martingale. This is the very definition of a negative betting strategy. So, how does it work?
The Martingale betting system is based on the belief that in a 50-50 game, you will eventually win. In other words, in a coin toss game, if you bet on heads, even if tails keep showing up over and over again, heads are going to land eventually.
That’s all fine and good, but how can we use this to our advantage and still make a profit (hopefully)? That’s where the negative progression comes to play.
In Baccarat, betting on either the Player or the Banker has close to a 50% chance of winning, so we can use the Martingale here.
For our example, we are going to bet on the Banker. Let’s say we put one betting unit on the banker, and we lose (the player wins). In the next turn, we would place two units on the Banker again (doubling our last bet). If the same result occurs, in the next hand, we would place 4 units (again, doubling our last bet). We would keep going like this until the Banker would win.
Now, when we eventually win by betting on the Banker, we would recover from all the losses and even gain a small winning amount because we doubled our bet after each loss.
When we win, we start again from the beginning (one unit) and repeat the process. This way, we recovered all our losses and kept winnings from the last hand.
As great as this betting strategy might sound, there are several problems:
- You might need a lot of money. Starting small is well, but using the Martingale after several losses can quickly drain your gambling fund
- The profits aren’t that great – Because Martingale is considered a “safer” betting strategy, the profits aren’t huge. If you plan to earn a substantial winning amount using this strategy, be prepared to play for a long time.
- The Martingale belief doesn’t always work – Simply put, even if there is a 50-50 chance of winning, you can easily get a streak of bad luck and just end up losing all your money even before you get started.
The Fibonacci Strategy
Slightly more advanced than the Martingale, the Fibonacci strategy is also based on negative progression. Just like the Martingale, each time you lose, you raise your bet amount by a few units. The only difference is that instead of doubling your bet every time, you follow the Fibonacci system.
This is how the Fibonacci sequence goes:
1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, etc.
As you can see, the next number in the sequence is the sum of the last two numbers. We use this sequence every time we lose a bet, and when we finally win, we go back to two units. Unlike Martingale, we don’t start from square one again, and we do end up winning a bit more money. Just like the martingale the Fibonacci works well as a baccarat strategy.
With that said, the Fibonacci has the same weaknesses as the Martingale. You can easily run out of money if luck isn’t on your side, the profits aren’t huge, and it takes a while to earn a meaningful amount of money.
The D’alembert Strategy
Possibly even simpler than the Martingale but also a bit riskier. The D’alembert Betting strategy is based on a belief that all 50-50 bets will eventually even themselves out.
You start by only using one betting unit. Each time you lose, you add exactly one unit to the betting amount. Each time you win, you subtract one betting unit. You keep going until you reach your desired winning amount (or if you lose all your gambling funds).
While it may be simple to understand, this strategy only works if you truly believe that wins and losses don’t come in clusters. Basically, a large cluster of losses is all it takes to drain you out of your funds. Also unlike the Martingale and the Fibonacci, a single D’alembert win won’t be enough to help you recover all your losses.
