From a player’s perspective, Baccarat is both the easiest and most advantages game currently being offered in either a land-based or online casino. The player is required to do nothing more than place a wager(s) on one of three spots and then watch the dealer deal a maximum of three cards to two different hands with one designated as the player’s and and the other designated as the banker’s. During that process, the dealer with determine a winner based on the very simple rules of the game.
What Makes Up A Winning Baccarat Hand?
As indicated, each gambler is required to place one or two bets on the table prior to the cards being dealt. They can bet individual bets on the player’s hand, the banker’s hand or a tie, and they can also bet a combination of bets that include the following: player/tie or banker/tie. That’s it. Five possible bets for each gambler on each hand.
Keeping in mind that the cards are valued at face value with all 10s and face cards counting as zero, winning hands are determined as follows.
If the gambler bets on the PLAYER’s hand, they win if a “natural” 8 or 9 is dealt in the first two cards for the player and the banker’s first two cards don’t also equal 8 or 9, creating either a tie or a loss with a natural 9 against a natural 8. If a natural is not dealt to either hand, the player’s hand then wins if it ends up with a higher total than the banker’s total after all cards have been dealt based on the rules of the game.
If the gambler bets on the BANKER’s hand, they win if a “natural” 8 or 9 is dealt in the first two cards for the banker and the player’s first two cards don’t also equal 8 or 9, creating either a tie or a loss with a natural 9 against a natural 8. If a natural is not dealt to either hand, the banker’s hand then wins if it ends up with a higher total than the player’s total after all cards have been dealt based on the rules of the game.
The other winning hand possibility comes if the gambler has placed a bet on the tie spot and in fact, both the player’s and banker’s respective hands end up tied after all cards have been dealt. With all of the 10s or zeros stacked in the deck, a tie hand comes approximate one in every 10 hands played.
A Quick Look at the House’s Advantage
As mentioned above, the house’s advantage is minimal. If the gambler bets on the player’s or banker’s hands, the advantage comes back at a statistical advantage of 1.24% or 1.06%. If the gambler decides to place a bet on the tie spot, the statistical advantage for the house increases to 4.85% if the online casino game pays 9-1 and a whopping 14.4% if the online casino games pays only 8-1 on ties.
Given the easiness of playing Baccarat, all the gambler really has to do is make their bet and sit back to watch as the dealer does their job.
