Part of what
makes Baccarat a great game is that it's so simple. The
Player's decision is limited to deciding what kind of bet
to make. From there on it's in the dealer's hands and you
collect or pay when it's over.
In Mini Baccarat, which is the only version most of us will
ever see in play, you don't even get the option of handling
the cards. In the "whale" games of European Baccarat they
get to mangle the cards whenever they like just for personal
entertainment. But then they're dropping $1000 or more a
hand and you can bet that that buys a lot of replacement
cards.
Betting
Bet on your own hand (Player) and you face a house edge
of 1.24%. Bet on the Banker's hand and the edge is either
0.6% if there's a 4% House cut or 1.06% is their cut is
5%. Finally there's the Tie bet which at best gives the
house almost a 5% edge (Pay 8:1) and at worst 14+% (Pay
9:1). Forget the Tie bet for obvious reasons. Unless you
can find a game with 4% vig on Banker bets, betting Player
or Banker is six of one, half a dozen of the other.
Strategy
The first thing a casino player asks themselves when stepping
up to a game is "how do I improve my odds?" The answer in
Baccarat is easy: you don't. Other than avoiding the Tie
bet there's nothing you can do. What about card counting
you ask? After all, everyone seems to do it on TV. Save
yourself the trouble because it's a facade. Statistical
analysis has shown that card counting in Baccarat is totally
ineffective until the game hits the bottom of the shoe and
even then it's a miniscule advantage. It basically boils
down to paying yourself $10 an hour for risking $1,000,000.
You're better off getting a squeegee and washing people's
windows for spare change. As to playing the game, that's
it. As to knowing what's going on, it's a matter of strict
and fixed rules, and here they are:
