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Top 8 Online Baccarat Strategy Tips
If you’re playing at any online casino, then you will surely come across the exciting card game of baccarat. This popular table game boasts an incredibly favourable house edge while also offering fast-paced gameplay.
In fact, most online casino players do prefer to play baccarat over blackjack – mainly because it does without the complicated card values. Winning at baccarat is not overly complicated, but a helpful online baccarat strategy does come in handy!
In this article, we will be giving players a detailed overview of key online baccarat strategies, as well as some choice tips on how to play this online casino game:
- Learn the rules of baccarat
- Understand baccarat odds
- Stick to your bankroll
- Be smart about tie bets
- Understand the Martingale betting system
- Reduce losses wisely
- Learn the basic baccarat strategies and try them out
- Your baccarat game - your strategy
Learn the rules of baccarat
Any online casino player must have a basic grasp of a casino game before they can start playing. Baccarat online is a great choice for complete beginners, as the rules are simple and rather memorable.
The game is played by placing bets on the outcome of either the Player’s hand (Punto) or the Banker’s hand (Banco). As such, baccarat requires at least one player to be sitting at a table so that both hands are in play.
The rules for a game of baccarat online claim that a hand will win when it has a value closer to nine. So players must place their bets and wait to see which cards are dealt.
Understand baccarat odds
The odds and payouts in baccarat online are generally quite favourable for an online casino game. This makes it a top choice for new casino players that would like to see a regular profit but with much smaller margins.
Below is a summary of the key odds and payouts when playing online baccarat:
Banker bet
- Odds: 45.86%
- Payout: 1:0.95
- House Edge: 1.06%
Player bet
- Odds: 44.62%
- Payout: 1:1
- House Edge: 1.24%
Tie bet
- Odds: 9.52%
- Payout: 8:1
- House Edge: 14.36%
At a house edge of 1.06%, the Banker bet in baccarat online is one of the most favourable bets that can be placed during any casino game. This is because it reflects a 51% chance that the Banker will always win a round.
Stick to your bankroll
Even though baccarat comes with very simple rules that beginners can easily master, it is important for new casino players to gamble responsibly.
One of the ways that this can be achieved is through effective bankroll management when playing card games such as baccarat. Each game of baccarat should be approached by including in your bankroll an amount of money that you would be comfortable losing.
Any that is lost when playing online baccarat is the cost of this game’s entertainment, while anything that remains is a bonus. Gambling should not be approached as a means of winning or chasing losses from previous sessions.
Baccarat does have a reputation for being a casino game for high-rollers, perhaps due to its being considered a James Bond game. However, it might be better to place smaller bets as a means of extending your gameplay.
And you should also use an effective baccarat strategy, so keep on reading this guide to find out more!
Be smart about tie bets
Tie bets have a far smaller chance of being the resulting outcome when compared to a Banker or Player bets. With an 8:1 payout, it does make for a very attractive wager for baccarat players.
With a house edge of 14.36, it is very unlikely for a Tie bet to win a game, so new baccarat players are advised to approach this bet with caution.
Understand the Martingale betting system
When playing most online casino table games, the sequence in which players place their bets can be considered a form of strategy.
These are called betting systems, with one of the most popular being the Martingale Betting System.
This is used in online casino games such as blackjack and roulette, but also in online baccarat. With this system, players will try to win back the losses from their previous game.
Therefore, if you lose a hand on $10, you will double your bet to $20 during the next game. If you win this hand, you then change your subsequent bet to the original $10 and repeat when another loss is garnered.
The Martingale Betting System should be advised with caution as its dependence on doubling bets following a loss means that large bets will only yield small overall wins, and loss may spiral out of control.
Reduce losses wisely
A way of countering significant losses is the use the opposite of the previously mentioned betting system by opting for the Reverse Martingale Betting System.
Here, you must double your bets only after a win, and if you are met with a loss you must revert your following wager to the original one. Therefore, a winning bet of $10 allows you to bet $20 on the next hand. Another win will allow for a $40, but a loss here reverts the wager back to $10.
Learn the basic baccarat strategies and try them out
Being such a popular online casino game, baccarat comes with a number of useful strategies that have been crafted over the years. These are very useful tools that can make this online casino game more exciting and entertaining while also improving bankroll management.
There is also the potential chance of ending a session of baccarat online with more money than you started with, which is definitely a great bonus! So sit back as we cover some of the basic baccarat strategies available to online casino players.
Strategy 1: Basic strategy
Keeping things simple is a great mantra to have a life, and the same can be said when playing an online casino game.
Baccarat has very simple rules and betting options, so the most basic strategy in baccarat is one that involves always placing the same bet. This is called the One-Sided Baccarat Strategy, which some players refer to as ‘Betting on the Banker’.
At an incredible house edge of 1.06%, the Banker bet is by far the most obvious choice for beginners of baccarat. To use this basic strategy, simply only place a Banker bet for the duration of your baccarat session.
You can also place the same bet on the Player, but this has a slightly less variable house edge – but it still works!
There are several benefits to this basic strategy, mainly its user-friendliness for beginners, its value in bankroll management, and its consistency as a strategy. In turn, it does lead to much smaller wins which will not make it suited for high-rollers.
Strategy 2: The Paroli betting strategy
A great baccarat strategy for those players who are ready to dip their toes into something a bit advanced is the Paroli Betting Strategy. This is actually almost identical to the Reverse Martingale Betting System that we mention previously in this guide, making a progressive betting system.
It is recommended for players to start playing a game with a small bet, then double this for every win. When a loss is hit, the player should revert the bet to the original small one. But the Paroli Betting Strategy is based on the logic that wins and losses come in a set of streaks. As such, when a player hits a win three times, they should step away and return to the small bet anyway.
This comes with a lot of great benefits, as it amplifies betting during winning streaks and reduces the wager volumes during losing streaks. It creates a scenario where the total losses from the bankroll are much lower than the potential wins.
However, the Paroli Betting System is based on the chance of guessing the correct patterns in a game of chance, which is never entirely possible.
Strategy 3: The Fibonacci strategy
Another very common baccarat strategy enjoyed by most players is the Fibonacci Strategy, which also happens to be used when playing online roulette.
As implied by its name, the Fibonacci Strategy is named after the 13th Century Italian mathematician who brought a sequence of numbers into European mathematics.
The Fibonacci Sequence is a sequence of numbers where each number is the sum of the two previous ones. There, if you start from 0, this would be: 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 etc.
During the Fibonacci Strategy, players will place a bet, and if they lose move on to the next number in the Fibonacci Sequence. If they win a bet, they must move back by two previous numbers in their sequence. For example:
- You bet $10 and you lose
- You now bet $10 and you lose again
- You now bet $20 and you lose again
- You now bet $30 and you lose again
- You now bet $50 and you win. You have to move two steps back in the sequence
- You now bet $20 and you win again, and so on.
This makes the Fibonacci Strategy a linear betting system, which takes advantage of perceived streaks of losses and wins. This strategy is great for baccarat players who are able to concentrate while playing at the baccarat table. The fact that it is a linear betting system makes it more favourable to managing losses when compared to the Martingale Betting System.
The main disadvantage is that it does require a lot more concentration, so it is more suited for short baccarat sessions. It is also more recommended for advanced players.
Your baccarat game - your strategy
So, the burning question on all of your minds would be ‘which is the best baccarat strategy?’.
There is no direct answer, as every online casino player will choose an online baccarat strategy that matches their goals for their gambling session, personal game style, and even their risk appetite.
When it comes to choosing a baccarat strategy for online casino players, the first things to consider should be your knowledge level and experience of the game, and then the size of your bankroll.
Therefore, if you have a decently sized bankroll, you should consider a progressive betting system such as the Martingale Betting System. If you have a solid understanding of baccarat and want to test yourself, opt for the Fibonacci Betting Strategy. But if you’re just looking for casual play, you may want to stick to Betting on the Banker.
Also, consider other variables when playing a game of online baccarat. There are several variations of baccarat that players can enjoy, which means that your preferred baccarat strategy might not be useful!
If you’re new to this exciting online casino game, start with a basic strategy and see how it goes. A baccarat strategy will never guarantee any win, as this online casino game is still based on pure luck.
Despite this, using a baccarat strategy will lead to some great fun, and if you’re lucky, you might land a couple of winning hands!