From sticky-floor California card rooms to the tuxedo-laden casinos of Monaco, baccarat is the game of choice for high rollers. And with good reason: Despite its complicated rules, baccarat is simple to play and offers an edge over the house. A player’s bankroll and discipline are the key to winning, and responsible gambling requires limiting bets to one’s financial means.
In baccarat, players bet on the winner of two hands—the player or banker hand. The goal is to win by betting on the hand that gets closer to nine than the opponent’s hand. The cards are dealt from six decks shuffled together. The Player’s and Banker’s cards are both valued based on their total; picture cards and ten value cards count as zero, while aces always count as one. A third card may be drawn if the first two cards on either hand total 8 or 9. The game ends when the first hand is a natural and placed bets are paid out.
A player can also place a “Tie” bet, which pays eight-to-one. However, experts agree that this bet is among the worst in a casino. In fact, a former Nevada Gaming Control Agent and casino dealer literally wrote the book on managing casino games—and he calls it “one of the five worst bets in any casino.” That hasn’t stopped countless baccarat aficionados from laying down big bets on this poorly valued long shot.
The croupier, who deals the cards and determines which side wins, takes a small percentage of all bets as his fee. The remaining bets are divided between the “Player’s” and “Banker’s” sides, and each has a different advantage. The banker’s side wins more often than the player’s side, but it’s still a losing bet over time.
There are several strategies that savvy players use to reduce the house edge in baccarat. For example, a player can employ the D’Alembert betting system to adjust his or her bet size after every win and loss. This allows a player to balance profits and losses over time, with a lower overall risk of loss than would otherwise be the case.
Other strategies involve card counting, a form of statistical analysis that can significantly improve a player’s odds. In particular, using the Counting Method with a strategy known as edge sorting can result in a significant edge over the house—as much as 0.45%, according to experts. However, a card counter is not allowed to share his techniques with other players.