The best strategies for beginners
Start by using a basic baccarat strategy, and only once you’ve mastered it think about moving on to advanced levels.
As a beginner, try to stick to safe bets. Bet as often as possible on the banker or player’s hand and definitely avoid betting on a draw.
Strategies for experts
If you master the basics of baccarat, you can start playing with a slightly more advanced strategy. Here are some examples:
Card counting – by keeping track of the cards, you will find that the casino’s advantage over the player can diminish significantly. However, this strategy requires a lot of patience, a good memory and practice. It is banned in most land-based casinos, but in online casinos card counting in live baccarat with a dealer is doing well.
Martingale system – a method that involves doubling each losing bet in order to recoup losses with one big win. It requires a very large budget, so we don’t recommend it for players who can’t afford big losses.
Fibonacci system – the amount of the bet after a losing round is dictated by the Fibonacci sequence.The reason why this system is recognized worldwide as a good strategy is because it does a great job of minimizing losses and significantly extending the playing time. The key to making the system work, however, is having a big budget.
The biggest baccarat winners of all time
Akio Kashiwagi – a Tokyo millionaire who could easily bet as much as $100,000 on a hand at the Trump Taj Mahal casino. On the night of his best streak, he gained $10 million against Trump’s casino. Eventually, as a result of an argument between the billionaires, he lost his winnings. The basis of the brawl was an agreement they made that Kashiwagi could continue playing as long as he did not lose $12 million. But according to him, Trump decided to break it!
John W. Gates – who lived from 1855 to 1911, a famous millionaire who earned the nickname “Mr. Bet-a-Million” for his willingness to take such a big risk in one round.
Phil Ivey – along with his partner “Kelly” Sun raked in over $20.6 million at the Borgata and Crockfords casinos. The brilliant duo used an edge sorting system to find flawed decks and guess which card values would be next.
Beginner mistakes that can be avoided
Baccarat is one of the best options that an online casino offers, due to the very simple rules of the game and the almost 99% return for players.
However, even here you can make some common mistakes that cost you money and sabotage your chances of winning.
Therefore, in order not to inadvertently give away the casino’s advantage, try to avoid making simple mistakes while playing.
Here is a list of the most common mistakes made in online baccarat:
Betting on a draw
This is the most commonly abused betting option, especially by new players.
While the payout vision here is appealing at 8:1, the 14% casino advantage is too much of a risk.
Regularly betting on a draw could cost you a lot in the long run, so we would rather not recommend that you make this type of bet a habit.
Also, don’t let a higher payout amount persuade you to bet on a draw, as this is a trick that casinos use to make themselves seem like an attractive option.
In reality, however, it is the casino that rakes in the most money when you bet on a draw.
Betting too much on a hand per player
Now that you understand that it’s not worth betting on a draw, you only have two betting options to consider – on the banker’s hand or on the player’s hand.
The casino advantage is 1.06 and 1.24 respectively, which is a very small difference compared to most other casino games.
Beginners often bet on the player’s hand in order to avoid paying the commission that the casino charges in case of a winning bet on the banker.
In reality, the casino’s specified edge already includes the commission. This means that the return on a banker bet is more profitable at 98.94%.
The main conclusion from this situation is that betting on the banker hand is always the wiser decision when playing baccarat.
Knowing and understanding the odds is needed to realise that even if the percentage differences seem small, it will pay off over time, even if it is not apparent after a few hands.
Playing baccarat without a bonus
Take advantage of online casino opportunities and choose an operator that offers a cash bonus for playing baccarat.
The bonus will instantly increase your bankroll, which means you can play longer.
And when you combine it with lower bets and slower play, you can play baccarat online or mobile for much longer than if you play at a land-based casino.
For novice players, this also means more time to learn different strategies and your skills.
No boundaries or limits
No matter what you play, you need to have limits set every time.
For example, if you get a certain win, consider ending the game before you waste your winnings.
If, on the other hand, you start to be down, admit that it’s just not your day before things get worse.
Let’s face it – nobody likes to walk away from the table when they’re winning, and nobody wants to accept defeat.
However, if you don’t set limits, your gambling career simply won’t last long.
Taking the game too seriously
You can spend a lot of time learning and practising your skills, preparing to play as best you can, but ultimately, fate will always decide the outcome.
If you take things too seriously, the clash between your intention to play well and randomness can be too hard to bear.
Don’t get us wrong, we always want to win ourselves and we use the tips provided on this page to give ourselves the best chance of winning at baccarat.
That said, we fully recognise that every single session is completely dependent on chance.
You can do your part – by betting on the dealer’s hand, avoiding draws and staying away from superstition.
But none of these precautions can stop a difficult hand in the short term.
When you take a game like baccarat too seriously, losing becomes an insult and you will feel resentful when the deck doesn’t cooperate. It’s not fun, and gambling should always be fun.
So try to enjoy the game and accept the different outcomes that are bound to occur during each session.
Summary
Although baccarat is one of the easiest card games to master, you should not take it for granted.
Review all the rules and strategies we mentioned above and apply them to your next game of Punto Banco.
Also, take a look at our guide to the best online casinos to find an operator that offers good bonuses, the largest selection of game variations and fast payouts.
And if you’re a novice, practice your online casino free play skills before trying your hand at real money.
After all, practice makes perfect.