Baccarat is a classic casino game of chance. But can you beat the house by employing tips and strategies? Let's look a little closer at some top tips for improving your chances in the casino.
The Best Baccarat Winning Strategies
Baccarat offers a low house edge compared to games like roulette. That's why you can play around with a betting strategy or system with low risk to your bankroll. Use our BetMGM Casino bonus code and try one of these baccarat staking systems. Or, if you are in a state without real-money iGaming, you could sign up with the High 5 Casino promo code.
Martingale
The Martingale was designed for even-money bets in roulette. However, it can be adapted to baccarat as a baccarat strategy, provided you don't bet on the Tie.
With the Martingale baccarat strategy, you double your stake following any losing bet. You keep doubling your wager until you win, at which point you reset your bet to its original amount.
The big disadvantage of the Martingale baccarat strategy is that it punishes long cold streaks. You can rack up a lot of losses if you get unlucky. Plus, the system doesn't take the commission on the Banker bet into account. With the Banker paying odds-on (-105) you need to hit a long winning streak in order to turn a profit.
Reverse Martingale
As the name implies, this baccarat strategy is the inverse to the standard Martingale. Rather than doubling your stake after each loss, the Reverse Martingale baccarat strategy relies on doubling your bet following every win. This can be particularly profitable for a bettor who catches a hot streak.
1-3-2-6
The 1-3-2-6 system was devised with baccarat in mind. You increase your bets slowly after every win. For example, your first bet would be at $1, followed by a $3 bet, a $2 bet, and a $6 bet. The fifth bet would be at the original stake of $1. You also reset your wager at any point if it loses with this baccarat strategy.
The 1-3-2-6 is a great system for bets that are even-money, or close to even-money. For that reason, the system works well in blackjack as well. The major flaw with this baccarat strategy, however, is that it doesn't take the 5% commission into account on Banker bets.
1-3-2-4
The 1-3-2-4 baccarat strategy was adapted from the 1-3-2-6 but offers slightly less risk. On your fourth bet, you increase your stake to $4, not $6. Once again, you reset your wager to $1 on your fifth bet, or after a loss.
Fibonacci System
This baccarat strategy derives its name from the mathematical Fibonacci sequence, which is a string of numbers where each number is the sum of the two numbers preceding it. Starting from zero, a Fibonacci sequence would be 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, and so on.
This applies as a baccarat betting strategy primarily in terms of optimizing spending. Start with a $1 wager and once you have a losing bet, your next bet should be equal to the following number in the Fibonacci sequence.
There are other baccarat betting strategies that either either too complex to execute in real casinos -- such as the baccarat pattern strategy that can work in online casinos with the help of a spreadsheet -- or built on flimsier pretenses like the Mikki Mase baccarat strategy.
In all, players should learn the baccarat rules and strategy before starting. Additionally, there is no one best strategy for baccarat, but any of the listed baccarat strategies above can prove to be a winning baccarat strategy when employed correctly and responsibly.
Best Baccarat Casinos In Your State
How to Play Baccarat Online
You can play baccarat at the best online casinos in the US. It's simple to play, and your options are pretty easy: simply bet on the winner of each hand.
Baccarat is played with an eight-deck shoe. Two hands of two cards are dealt out: the Player and the Banker. Card values work like this:
Aces: 1 point each 2–through–9: Face value Tens and picture cards: 0 points
You place a bet on which hand you think will win the round (Player or Banker). You may also bet on a Tie. The payout for a Player win is +100 (1/1), the Banker win -105 (19/20), and the Tie +800 (8/1).
In some cases, the Third Card Rule comes into play. The Player or Banker (or both) may receive a third card depending on the total of the original hands. Some baccarat variants at NJ online casinos also let you place side bets on outcomes such as a Player Pair or Perfect Pair.
Baccarat Odds: Player vs Banker
Before you head off to PA online casinos, we should highlight some of the odds of hitting a winner in baccarat. In the game, the Banker's hand wins around 45.8% of the time. The Player hand wins 44.6%, a significant difference when you factor in hundreds, or thousands, of hands. The tie wins 9.6% of the time. When you discount the tie, the Banker wins just over half (around 51%) of all hands. You can sign up with for the Fanatics Casino promo code and start playing in minutes.
Now, let's compare this to the actual payouts in the game:
| Type of Bet | Odds | Payout | House Edge |
| Banker | 45.8% | -105 (19/20) | 1.06% |
| Player | 44.6% | +100 (1/1) | 1.24% |
| Tie | 9.6% | +800 (8/1) | 14.36% |
Understanding Baccarat House Edge
As with all games at casino apps, baccarat comes with its risks. There is an inherent house edge associated with baccarat games. That is the average return to the casino over millions of hands.
- Banker Hand: 1.06%
- Player Hand: 1.24%
- Tie: 14.36%
As you see, betting on the Banker's hand to win offers a much lower house edge than betting on the Player's. Why? Simply, the Banker has many more third-card options once they know what the Player's hand is.
The Tie option is the worst bet to make and not a winning baccarat strategy, and it carries a prohibitive house edge of 14.36%. The 8/1 (or 9/1) payout simply doesn't tally with the odds of a tie happening.
Studying Baccarat Roads
Baccarat uses a shoe that normally contains eight decks. That means there will be around 70–80 hands before the shoe runs out. For that reason, baccarat games display a list of all previous results to help players spot runs and streaks.
All online baccarat games offer a history of recent bets. The on-screen display shows a series of charts, known as "roads". These roads show patterns in winning hands (e.g. Player win, Banker win, or Tie) by using red, blue, and green circles (red for Banker, blue for Player, green for Tie).
You can browse the roads on games at all NJ online casinos, for example. Here are some simple explanations:
- Bead Plate: A list of all recorded wins from the current shoe. The Banker win is red, the Player blue, and the Tie green.
- Big Road: An ordered list of results displaying winnings trends. A new column in the chart begins every time the winning position changes.
- Big Eye Boy: A more detailed chart displaying repetitive patterns.
- Small Road: This is a "derived road" predicting results based on the Big Eye Boy. It skips the column to the left of the current one on the Big Eye Boy.
- Cockroach Road: Another derived road that shows prediction patterns based on the result from three hands prior.
Most online baccarat variants let you study the roads on screen as they are regularly updated. You can also click on a special prediction button in some Evolution Gaming live dealer variants. This reveals what may be the next winning hand. You also may find some versions of baccarat on sweepstakes casinos, where you can claim welcome offers that often include free SC coins.
Top 5 Baccarat Tips for Beginners
1 – Claim a Bonus & Check the Contribution Rates
You can claim a welcome bonus at all good baccarat casinos online. Receive bonus funds when you sign up and deposit. For example, you can use our Caesars Palace Online Casino bonus code right now. We always recommend that you read the terms and conditions before you commit. Not all casino bonuses permit baccarat gameplay to contribute toward a bonus clearance. In some cases, only 5–10% of baccarat play may go toward the wagering requirement.
2 – Avoid Betting on Streaks
Like all casino games, baccarat is a game where each hand is independent from the last. There is no benefit in studying hot and cold streaks, though many superstitious gamblers will study the Big Road and Small Road trying to find patterns.
3 – Avoid the Tie Bet
Statistically, the Tie is the worst bet to make in baccarat. It has the worst odds and the highest house edge. Always make sensible bets on the Banker, and always play within your means.
4 – Avoid Live Dealer Baccarat Games
You can play live casino baccarat at the best Connecticut online casinos right now. The benefit of live baccarat is that you can play against a human croupier using real cards and tables. However, unless you're playing Speed Baccarat, games can be slow and you will struggle to clear a bonus in the same time as if you were playing standard RNG baccarat.
5 – Set Win & Loss Limits
Sensible baccarat play is about playing within your limits. It's just as important as your in-game baccarat strategy. Set win and loss limits before you start playing, and choose the sites with the biggest bonuses and most generous wagering requirements.
Start Winning With Baccarat Strategy Today
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