How is Baccarat Played?
The way the value of the hand is determined is by adding the points of the individual cards. Face cards and tens have no points. The points for the other cards are counted by the number of “pips” on the face of the card. Aces are worth 1 point, 2 through 9 receive the pip value and 10’s and face cards are 0. The hand with the highest number of points is the winner. If the value of both hands is the same, it is deemed a tie.
Baccarat Rules
The rules for Baccarat are fairly simple. For the player’s hand, if the first two cards have a value of 6 or more, the player has to stand and may not draw another card. If the total equals 5 or less, the player has to draw another card. The banker may draw 7 points on his first two cards before standing; otherwise, he must continue to draw.
If you win the hand in Baccarat, you are paid 1:1. Some casinos may charge a commission on winning of 4 or 5%. Tie bets are usually paid 8:1 or 9:1. Again, these numbers may vary from casino to casino.
Tips for Playing Baccarat
Don’t bet on a tie. A banker has a house edge of 1.06 percent for winning. A player has a house edge of 1.24 percent chance of winning. The tie has a 14.4 house edge for winning. Unless you are feeling extremely, lucky, it is best to stick with betting on the player or the banker. Your odds of making money are much better.
Make your first bet on the banker. You are about to play your first hand of Baccarat. Making your first bet on the banker and you will have more than a 50% chance of winning the first time.
Keep your bet on the banker until you lose. You need to capitalize on streaks, and the banker has a slightly better chance of winning. Stick with the better odds and hope that your streak lasts. Just remember that if a streak is occurring, it will not go on forever. Don’t get too aggressive with your betting as the streak will eventually come to an end. You are still facing a house edge on every bet, and that can’t be avoided.
When you do lose after betting on the banker, and the player wins, don’t jump in and make your next bet yet. Wait until the next hand, and go with whoever wins. If the bet is awarded a tie, and neither the banker nor the player loses, wait one more hand and bet with the winner of that hand. The tie is not likely to come up again anytime soon.
Treat ties as if they don’t count. Think of ties as a pause in the action. If the winning sequence is banker, banker, tie, pretend the tie didn’t happen and consider the banker on a streak. Continue to bet on the banker.
There are special rules for when the player wins. When the player is on a streak, continue to bet player. Here is the curve ball so pay close attention. If the bank wins and the player loses, do not wait for the next decision. Jump ship and immediately bet on the banker. The first time the banker wins, immediately begin betting on the banker.
Managing your Money
Playing Baccarat is a lot like flipping a coin, and money management is crucial. This is a tight game. Even with coin flipping, there can be amazing streaks that go both ways, good or bad. Let’s pretend you are betting 10 units per hand. You are leaving yourself with 200 units and if you lose to that point, you are stopping. Give yourself limits and stick to them. It is far too easy to tell yourself you will play just one more hand, and before you know it, you have broken your bank. When you set limits, keep them. Walk away from your computer and don’t go back until you have given yourself a serious break from the action. Then go back and try your luck again when you have a fresh perspective and your adrenaline has stopped pumping.
Conversely, if you have won a decent amount of money and you don’t want to quit just yet, here is a great option. Split your winnings in half. Promise yourself that you will stop if you reach half of what you have won, and walk away. Who knows, you may end up winning big and doubling your winnings. If you stop with bankrolling half of your winnings and lose the first half, at least you still walk away a winner.
Baccarat is a fairly simple and straightforward game to play. There are not as many complicated options as there are in some of the other card games. Stick to the basics and make good decisions and play with the odds. You will have fun and hopefully come out ahead!
