The strict rules prescribing the issuing of cards make Baccarat a game that involves very little skill, in some casinos you may see players religiously keeping check of every card but with a shoe holding eight shuffled packs (over 400 cards) the benefit of card counting is minimal. Some players you will find are using these scorecard to spot patterns in the hands, again with the numbers of cards involved and the randomness of a well shuffled pack, not to mention eight, they are being somewhat optimistic. Each hand is individual and has no memory or bearing on the previous or the next.

Baccarat Odds

So what about the odds, well statistically without commission and if ties are allowed the chances on a player winning are 44.62%, losing 45.85%, and 9.53% to tie. This implies the best bet is that the banker will win, to even this out commission is applied to the banker winning lets assume 5% at this rate the odds are narrowed but still marginally in favor of the banker. The odds paid out in the event of a tie are usually 8:1 which sound quite attractive however because of the rarity of a tie it is considered one of the worst bets to make so leave that one out of your winning strategy. Generally speaking if the commission is 5% or less then betting on the banker has an advantage above 5% the advantage moves towards betting on the player. Most online casinos allow ties but not all so as with all games always check which version of the rules apply before playing.

Baccarat Strategies

Most so called Baccarat Systems are based on the Martindale model or a variation of it, this involves doubling your bet if you loose (or win in some versions) and continuing to double until you win thus getting your money back plus the original bet and then start with your original bet value. Infallible yes but, and the but is important, it can happen that you may have a loosing run of several hands and tables invariably have a limit lets just look at how your bet increases in size over a few lost hands. Lets assume a starting bet of 5 next 10 then 20,40,80,160,320,640,1280,2560 and that's only 10 hands now if your next bet takes you over the tables maximum you've just lost over 5000, so as with all bets know your limits and work within them. All this caution aside Baccarat has one of the lowest house margins of all casino games and offers enjoyment without too much effort and if your luck you just might win, good luck.

If you want to know more about the history of Baccarat and some of its derivatives visit or Baccarat History page.