Baccarat is an easy game to play and get started with. Baccarat is the oldest of all games played in modern casinos. Records suggest the game may have been played as far back as the fifteenth century in France where it is sometime known as punto banco. When playing Baccarat you bet on which player has the highest card, yourself, or the dealer and thats all there is to it. You can win big without knowing a great deal about the game and the key to this is knowing when to increase your stake money. Baccarat is a card game played with a single deck of cards. The objective of the game is to predict which of the two hands (Banker or Player) that are about to be dealt will be closer to having a value of 9.

Baccarat - Strategy and Tips on how to play

Baccarat is a game of pure luck. The game is played using a fixed set of rules for the player and the dealer, and these rules represent the best odds of winning for both the player and for the house. Calculations have been made that show the odds of the player winning are 44.62%, losing is a little higher at 45.85%, and 9.53% to tie. Thus it would seem to be to your advantage to bet on the house winning on every hand. To even out the odds the house charges a commission (usually 5%) on winning player bets placed on the house.

How should this change the way a player wagers?

Factoring in the commission it turns out that you are still slightly better off by betting that the house will win. This assumes the commission is the usual 5%, however, should the commission change then you have to change strategy. If the commission is less than 5% then it is always to your advantage to bet with the house, while if the commission is more than 5% it pays to bet on the player winning.

Removing the tie hands in the event there is no payoff, the odds of the player winning are 49.32% and for losing 50.68%.

Baccarat sometimes allows for a bet to be made for a tie, and sometimes doesn't although mini baccarat typically played online usually does. Although the odds of 8 to 1 may sound appealing, it is considered one of the worst wagers in the casino, so don't bother making this bet part of your baccarat strategy. So it is best to avoid tie bets altogether, since they give the house a significant advantage, in fact an advantage of almost 20%.So if you stick to only the banker and player bets, the house advantage will remain at a minimum, so maximizing your chances of winning. Betting on the player gives the house a 1.36% edge Betting on the banker gives the house a 1.17% edge. Looking at this either way means that the house has the edge and should win in the long run. Some baccarat players believe in streaks and will bet on whatever won the last hand. This strategy does not give you better odds though as each hand is like the flip of a coin.

Baccarat Rules

There is one card placed faceup on the table and this indicates how many cards the dealer will burn. If the card turned up is a three of spades, the dealer will burn three cards.

There is a commission the banker charges in baccarat. The casino takes the commission whenever a player wins a bet placed on the banker side. This is because betting on the banker has an inherent 1.06 percent advantage. Bets are paid at 0.95-to-1.

All cards with values of twos through to nines are counted at face value, tens and all Jacks, Queens and Kings count as zero and aces count as one. Whatever suit the cards are is irrelevant in the game of baccarat.

When the casino deals the cards the first and third cards are dealt to the player and the second and fourth cards are dealt to the banker.

For any total over nine, only the last digit is taken - for example, a total composed of a six of clubs and a six of diamonds is two. If either the player or the banker has a total of eight or nine, it's called a "natural" and automatically wins - unless the other hand also has a natural, in which case the two hands tie.

If a player holds a total of less than six or seven in his hand then the player draws.

If the banker has a total ranging from zero to two then the bank must always draw.

Where there is a total of seven the bank always stands.

With a total of three the bank draws unless the player drew and its third card was an eight.

With a total of four the bank draws, unless the player drew and its third card was an eight, nine or ace.

With a five the bank draws, unless the player drew a third card outside the range of four through to seven.

With a six the bank stands, unless the player drew a third card of either a six or a seven.