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Baccarat

This is a game which has undergone a democratization in the last few years. It used to be played only in Baccarat 'rooms' at the casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, was usually a $20 minimum bet and has always been considered a high-roller's game. Now, it's found in many casinos as 'mini' baccarat where it's played at the same type of table as Blackjack and usually at a $5 minimum bet. Perhaps not as glamorous as it once was, baccarat is still a pretty good game for gamblers to play. A player cannot overcome the house edge in baccarat, but it's a relatively small edge and the game is simple to play, so it offers a much better deal than roulette, for example.

A lot of potential players are scared off the game because it looks difficult to play, but most authors point out that the player doesn't need to know the rules, since the play of all hands is automatic according to a published set of procedures. That's true as far as it goes, but that was back when each casino had only one or two Baccarat tables and each was supervised by a casino employee whose sole job was to referee the play of the game and the payoffs of the hands. But in this era of smaller casinos where one dealer handles everything at the Baccarat table, it's imperative for a player to know the rules for the play of hands. With the turnover in casino personnel being fairly rapid in many places, it's not unfair to assume that the dealer is capable of making a mistake, so by knowing the rules, the smart player is protecting his or her $$$ at the game. Most casinos publish the rules and a card listing them is usually available at the table, but I've provided one here which you can print out and take along yourself.

Before we get into that, a short explanation of the game's procedures is necessary for those of you who haven't played it before. Baccarat is a card game where one side (the 'banker') is pitted against the other (the 'player'). Since a casino patron may bet on either hand, the designations are basically meaningless, but are a holdover from a European version of the game. Anyway, the object of the game is to get a hand which totals 9, with face cards and 10s counting as 0 and the Ace as 1 with the other cards counting their point value. Ten is always subtracted from a hand totaling 10 or more, so a hand consisting of a 6 and 5 is one, not 11 and a hand of 7 and 3 is zero, not 10. Got that? Baccarat is typically played from a shoe with six or eight decks (it doesn't matter which; the casino edge isn't affected) and play begins with two cards dealt to each side. If either side has a 'natural' 8 or 9, all play on that hand ceases and the one with the highest total wins. If both sides have an equal hand, it's a 'tie' and no money is exchanged. (There is a side bet for ties, but that carries a 14% house edge, so forget it.) Continuing on with the play of other hands, if the player side has a total of 6 or 7, it must stand. Any other total for the player hand (0,1,2,3,4,5) requires the drawing of a third card. It's the value of this third card which determines, in many cases, how the banker hand is played. For example, if the two-card player hand totals 3, it must draw a third card. Let's say the banker has a total of 3 also. If the dealer 'gives' the player an 8 as the third card, dealer must stand. Of course, you can see that the player hand would now total one (3 + 8 = 11 -10 = 1), so the banker hand would win, 3 over 1. If, in this same example, the banker 'gives' any card other than an eight, then banker must take a third card. Just to carry this through, let's say banker gives the player a 4. The player hand now totals 7 and the banker must draw so it has a chance to improve the hand. It's these variations in the rules which give the banker hand the edge. So, you're thinking, if that's the case, why wouldn't I always bet on the banker hand? Not so fast, pardner. The casinos also know that the banker has an advantage, so they pay off winning bets on banker at a rate of .95 to 1 by charging a 5% 'commission'. This wipes out the edge on the banker hand and allows the casino patron to bet on either side. I do want to stress that the 5% is charged only on winning banker bets, not every banker bet. All this gives the casino an edge of 1.23% on player-side bets and 1.06% on banker-side bets.

That really isn't all that bad, particularly when compared to roulette, keno, slots and many other games in the casino. A smart craps player can do better and any Blackjack player who plays perfect basic strategy can do better, but all-in-all it's not the worst choice, especially when you consider that there's no strategy to learn. As long as the dealer plays each hand correctly (and you'll be checking on him from now on, right?), you just need to place a bet and hope it's a winner. Unfortunately, I can't give you a playing strategy which will overcome the house edge, but there are a few tips I can pass on which may help you enjoy your time there more.

First and foremost, do NOT bet the ties; the edge is too big and it will suck up your money like a vacuum cleaner. Secondly, remember that when the house has an edge, the fewer bets you make, the less chance that edge has to work against you. This calls for making bigger bets, which goes against the grain of most gamblers, since they want their money to last. For example, if the house has a 1% edge in a game, the probability of winning is 49.5% and the probability of losing is 50.5% on any given bet (we're ignoring ties here). Thus, if you have $500 to bet and your objective is to double your $$$, you're better off to bet it all on one hand and then walk away, win or lose, than you would be to play a bunch of hands at $10 a pop. Doubling one 'unit' at a game where the house has an edge is easier than doubling 50 units. But most people won't bet it all on one hand, so just be aggressive and bet with the trend, in the hopes that a streak occurs and you're on board. In its deepest analysis, that's all this game amounts to: betting and hoping.

Here are the rules for the play of hands at Baccarat. To say it one more time, dealers are human and they do make mistakes, so be aware of how the hand should be played. If a dealer consistently misplays a hand in favor of one side or the other, it's probably not your place, as a casino patron, to correct that play but you might consider betting the side the dealer is favoring!

As always, I wish you luck.