About Baccarat
Play Baccarat online and offline
Baccarat is one of the most popular table games in casinos and online casinos. The reasons for this are obvious: it is a very easy game to learn and the house edge of the bank is negligible. No wonder that it has also found its way into pop culture and has become the favorite game of British secret agent James Bond in literature and films. Even if it may look a bit complex at first, the game is child’s play in the end and as a player, you only have to make one decision like tossing a coin: What am I going for?
Table of Contents:
History of baccarat
How to play baccarat online?
Baccarat betting options
Tips and strategies for newbies
Don’t bet on a tie
Baccarat game systems
Play baccarat for free
The history of the origin of baccarat is still unclear. Initial records are said to have shown that the card game was already known in Italy in the 15th century and was brought to France by soldiers after the French-Italian War under Charles VIII. However, new research suggests that baccarat originated in the 19th century. The game is said to be derived generally from the Hungarian card game Macao, a variant of the well-known game 17 and 4. However, the first theory would fit the name Baccarat, which means zero in a Neapolitan dialect.
How to play baccarat online?
Baccarat is a card game at the table and almost a duel between the bank and the player. The goal of the game is to get as close to the nine as possible with two or three cards, or to land on the nine. Number cards have the value that is printed on them. The ace counts as a one, all other cards count as zero. Unlike blackjack, baccarat cannot be overbought, because as soon as two numerical values exceed nine, the total is reduced to the rear digit. If you draw two fives, for example, you have a total of ten on the table, but zero points for the evaluation in the Baccarat game.
After placing your bet, the dealer deals two cards face up. The value of the cards drawn is shown in a display. If you achieve a value of eight or nine with your two cards, this is a so-called natural and therefore an automatic win for the player hand, unless the bank hand also presents a natural.
If the value of the player’s hand is between zero and five, the dealer automatically hands out another card, so the player’s turn is over. The dealer then takes care of the bank’s hand. Whether the bank draws a third card depends not only on your own score, but also on the player’s hand and is a little more complicated. However, it is easy to remember that the bank always draws when it presents a value between zero and two and never pulls from a value of seven.
Then the hands are compared, which is closer to the nine, the game wins, but in the case of the player this does not automatically lead to you winning your bet.
Baccarat betting options
The betting options at baccarat are quickly explained, because there are only three in total. As a player, you can either bet on your own cards, on the bank’s cards or on a tie. That’s it. Sounds easy? It is. And since the chances of winning of the player hand and bank are almost identical and the croupier takes over all the steps anyway, you can lean back after your bet and wait for your win. It is a bit unusual at first that you can still win even though your player cards on the table lose, but even this strange feeling fades away after a while.
Tips and strategies for beginners
Set on the bench
The house edge in the casino game Baccarat is in the low single digits and differentiates between betting on the player and betting on the bank. Since the bank knows what to draw, their chances of winning are slightly higher than that of the player. You can of course use this to your advantage by betting on the bench yourself. To compensate for this, the bank keeps 5% of your stake as a commission, pays out only 95% of the profit. Nevertheless, there is a house edge of just 1.18%, when betting on the player this advantage increases to 1.36%. Some players alternate their bets according to the course of the game, i.e. bet a few times in a row on the bench, then on the player or vice versa. This strategy has less to do with statistical knowledge, but more with the gut feeling.
Don’t bet on a tie
As mentioned, you can also bet on the rare case of a tie. An online casino rewards this bet with the chance of winning in a ratio of 8 or 9 to 1. And not without reason, because although statistically only 9.54% of all Baccarat games are drawn, the house edge shoots up and lands this betting option at over 14%. This bet is simply not worthwhile for you.
Baccarat game systems
Accordingly, baccarat strategies are more concerned with choosing and developing bets to minimize losses. Whether Martingale, Oscar’s Grind or Fibonacci system, even with Baccarat you can keep your stack of chips nice and large by adapting your bets according to the previous games.
Play baccarat for free
Just as some players want to test their luck with play money at roulette, blackjack or at slots before a real money game, you can of course also do this at baccarat. Because online casinos usually offer a demo, play money or fun mode, in which you can put the game through its paces before you make your first bets with real money. And you don’t even have to deposit anything into your account, simply registering for free in the online casino of your choice is all you need to follow in the footsteps of James Bond and make baccarat your favorite game.