Baccarat Strategies to Help Improves Your Chances of Winning

If you are not new to baccarat, then you will know that it is a game of luck and there are no baccarat strategies out there to give you a better chance of winning some money. You just have to hope that Lady Luck is smiling on you when you are playing baccarat at an online casino, right? Well, as we are about to reveal in this review, there are actually some strategies that you can make use of to improve your chances of landing a win when playing this casino game. If you are a keen baccarat player, read on to improve your chances of being a winner.

The Basics of Good Strategies for Baccarat

There are a couple of basic things that you should keep in mind before diving right into the world of baccarat betting strategies. For example, you need to know what baccarat variant you are going to be playing. Most of the strategies that we are going to discuss below will work regardless of the baccarat game that you are playing, but it is important to note that there might be subtle differences in rules between variants.

Next, you have to make sure that you are able to manage your money properly. Whenever you are playing a game of baccarat, or any table or slot game where real money is on the line, you should set yourself a budget that you can afford to lose. Once you have reached your budget, stop gambling and go and occupy your mind with something else. You should never go beyond your budget in order to try and recuperate losses as all this is going to do is lead to more lost cash. As well as a budget, you should set yourself a winning target, and stop if you reach it - what is the point of winning money only to lose it all right away?

When you have decided on the baccarat variant you want to play and the limits that you are going to set yourself, the only thing you have to do is stay focused. This probably sounds easy but believe us when we say that it is easy to get distracted when playing this very entertaining card game. The skill to remain focused when the cards are on the table is something that separates the best baccarat players from the average ones.

What Is the Most Common Baccarat Strategy?

The most common strategy in baccarat is called the basic baccarat strategy, and it is sometimes known as a flat betting strategy. This is the best strategy for those who are new to this exciting card game.

This strategy takes into consideration the fact that the Banker's hand will have a smaller house edge when compared to the other two betting options - Player's hand and Tie. With this basic strategy, you have to simply focus on the hand that the Banker has.

If we have a quick look at percentages, we will quickly see why. The house edge for the Banker's hand stands at 1.06%, while the house edge for the Player's hand is 1.24%, and the Tie has a house edge of 14.36% as the chances of landing it are quite slim. So, now you know the figures for the house edge, which is the best to place a bet on?

Well, obviously, it is the Banker's hand. Okay, we must add here that the casino will usually take a 5% commission fee if you win your bet on the Banker's hand, but you still have a higher chance of making a profit. The fact that casinos put a commission on the Banker's hand and not the other two hands highlight this fact.

So, in order to use this strategy, all you have to do is put your chips on the Banker and ignore the Player and the Tie. You do not have to increase or decrease your wager depending on whether you have a loss or a win - simply put down the same stake all the time. You should have a bankroll and stick to it so that you ensure you do not lose more money than you can afford to.

Can You Card Count When Playing Baccarat?

Card counting became popular thanks to games like blackjack. You might feel that card counting is a trick that only those who are great at math can do, but this is not true. Anyone with basic math skills can card count since it is just addition and subtraction. When you are card counting, you are trying to work out who will get the better hand in a round. Card counting works with blackjack, but can you use it when playing baccarat?

Well, since this game is somewhat similar in gameplay to blackjack, card counting is something that can be used when you are playing blackjack. However, there are a number of prerequisites that need to be met in order for card counting to work and we have outlined these below for you:

1. You need to play at a baccarat table that uses 6-8 decks of cards
2. The shoe needs to be fresh - when you are playing online baccarat the shoe will be changed every 30 minutes, so join in the action when this happens
3. In the ideal world, you should play at a table where the same shoe is used throughout. However, this is something that only happens at land-based casino

If you have met the first two criteria, then you are ready to start card counting, but how do you do it? Well, we have explained this below for you. When you sit at a table that has a fresh shoe, start your count at 0. Then, you will add or subtract from that 0 depending on the next card to appear. The table below reveals the action that you need to do depending on the card that shows up next.

Card Values	Action Needed
Aces, Two or Three	+1
Four	+2
Five, Seven, or Eight	-1
Six	-2
Nine, Ten, Jack, Queen, King	+0

Count cards for a few rounds and then you will know whether you should bet on the Player or the Banker. When you have a count below 16, put your money on the Banker. If you have a count above 16, then put your money on the Player. The Tie option will add a lot of complications, so if you are counting cards, we suggest that you forget that the Tie option even exists.

The 1-3-2-4 Baccarat Strategy

This progressive strategy takes into consideration that the odds of a Banker or Player win is about 50/50. This is a simple strategy that beginners and professionals like to make use of. So, how does it work exactly? Well, on your first round of betting you place one unit, then three units on your second round, two on the third round, and then four on the fourth round. You only move forward to the next number if you are a winner. If you lose, you should start from the beginning.

Let us say that one unit equals $5 - if you manage to win four consecutive times, then you will make a $20 profit.

The Baccarat Pattern Strategy

If you look through baccarat strategy forums, then you will more than likely come across someone that speaks about the baccarat pattern strategy. What is this strategy? Well, read on and all will be revealed.

With this strategy, you need to keep track of the happenings in previous rounds. Those who use the baccarat pattern strategy feel that they can pick up on trends that can be used to win. The strategy takes into consideration that the Banker wins 45.84% of the time, the Player wins 44.62% of the time, and the Tie pops up 9.54% of the time. We are going to give you an example now to make things very easy to understand.

Let us pretend that you are in the middle of a baccarat session and in the eleventh round, the Banker wins, and you realize that the Player has been victorious four times (36.36%), the Banker has won six times (54.54%) and the Tie has popped up once (9.09%). So, in this scenario, the Banker's hand is 8.7% higher than the average, while the Player's hand has dropped 8.3% below the average. In an ideal world, things should eventually even themselves out, so betting on the next winner to be the Player would make sense.

When you are enjoying baccarat online, the winning hands are usually recorded on what is called the Big Road. On this road you will find blue, red, and green circles - the blue circles are for a Player win, the red circles are for a Banker win, and the green circles are for a Tie. This is a useful tool to refer to whenever you are using this strategy.

The Grand Martingale System

This is similar to the Martingale betting system but is on steroids. With this strategy, you have the chance to earn some large profits, but huge risks often come with large profits. When you are using the original Martingale system, you have to double your stake whenever you lose, but with the Grand Martingale strategy, you need to double your stake and add one unit. Below we have given you an example so that it is easier to understand.

Let us pretend that your first stake is $20, and you go on to lose it. Your next bet will cost you $41 - you have doubled your original wager and added one unit. If you go on to lose, your next bet will have to be $83. If you go on to win, you start over again with your original stake of $20.

The advantage of this strategy is that adding one unit will provide you with plenty of profit if Lady Luck decides to smile on you. However, if you plan to use it, then you will have to ensure that you have put aside a big budget.

Mini Baccarat Strategy

As is clear by its name, mini baccarat is a smaller version of regular baccarat. It is a very popular variant and you will be able to play it at all of the best online casinos. With this variant, only seven players can fit at a table at once, which means that the speed of this game is a lot quicker than original baccarat.

With mini baccarat, the min bet that you can make is a lot smaller than the min bet with original baccarat. However, since the rounds go by a lot faster, you can still be on the end of a really annoying losing streak. This is the reason why you need to think twice before you use progressive betting strategies here.

The best strategy you can use when you are playing this baccarat variant is to bet on the Banker's hand until you lose. When you lose, put your money on the Player, and when you lose next with the Player, put your cash on the Banker.

Practice for Free First

If you opt to use any of the above strategies when placing baccarat bets, then we really do recommend that you try them out for free before you start using them with your own money on the line. How is it possible to do this though? Well, you will be glad to hear that the majority of online casinos nowadays allow their players to play their games free of charge. You can try out strategies until you feel that you have a firm understanding of them and then you can try your luck with real money bets.

How can you find the best online casinos to play baccarat and other table games such as roulette and poker? Nowadays, there are so many online casinos out there that it can be hard to find the best one for you. This is where online casino comparison sites come into play as all of the best ones have a team of experts that will discuss the best bonus available, the best payment options, and provide useful betting tips.