How to Win at baccarat

Do you love gambling on any game of chance, but you’re finding that you’re losing more often than you’re winning? Maybe you’re frustrated by the number of times you “fumble” and lose a hand or two. But why not drop a small, low-cost bet on a few rounds of baccarat instead of trying to win it all?

Don’t fret, if you can handle winning a few rounds of baccarat with some simple rules, you can win at baccarat. Just read on to learn more.

Shuffle Up and Deal

Once you’re ready to play, you need to shuffle up and deal. Either shuffle a deck of cards, or use the facilities on the baccarat table to shuffle for you. It’s best to use the table if you can find it with a minimum of hassle. Just set it up in front of you and wait. It will probably go by faster if you use the main deck of cards. Avoid the temptation to get up and use the phone if the dealer is busy; you might miss the second half of the shoe.

Before you take the plunge, make sure that you are ready with a fully understood version of the card-counting system for baccarat. Practice on a computer if you have to, but don’t gamble with real money until you are certain you know what you’re doing.

Baccarat Basics

Baccarat is one of the easiest of all casino games to learn and play because the cards just move around the wheel dealing the same to everybody. There are three possible outcomes to a hand of baccarat: the banker wins, the player loses, or there is a tie. The bag either has a face value of nine or ten, which means the hand has a value of nine or ten. Aces count as one, picture cards as nine, and everything else is multiplied by two. The game is played with a shoe that has the numbers 9, 10, and a face value of either nine or ten on it.

Reading the shoe

Before you place your bets, you need to be able to understand the numbers and values on the card in the shoe, so that you can count them. The card is like a number because it has a face value assigned by the dealer. An Ace is either a one or eleven, while the picture cards are counted as tens (1 to 9), so they have positive values. The numbers two, three, four, five, and six are considered the high numbers and the number eight is the low number. The zero is the highest number. Since the ace is the equivalent of 1, the ace is the “high card” in kartupoker.

However, you don’t have to memorize all of this information, because most dealers will have some of this information already in their head. Also, don’t be afraid to ask the dealer or the pit boss what the lowest card is, as they are likely to know.

How to bet

The only legal bets in baccarat are on the pass line (betting the amount you want to try to win) and the don’t pass line (betting to win less than what you want to bet). Most players bet on the don’t pass line because they have a better chance of winning a bet. If you bet on the pass line, you win if the ball lands on the number seven or a face card. If the ball lands on a zero, you lose. You can also bet on the don’t pass line, which is the opposite. If you bet on the don’t pass line, you win if the ball lands on a number or a face card, and you lose if the ball lands on a zero. You can also bet on a tie, which is exactly the same as don’t pass. The tie bet has a 2.5% house advantage, so it’s easier to make a decision of whether or not to bet on the tie than it is on a single number.

The cards you bet on and the numbers you bet on, as well as the outcomes of the hands, are based on a three-dice sequence. The premise behind the game is that there are four possible outcomes: first two dice will show a natural seven or eleven, the third will show a natural eight or nine, and the fourth will show a natural ten or queen. Because there is only three possible outcomes, the odds are quite reasonable in that the sum of all your bets — including the don’t pass line bet — will be between 4 and 10 or 24 and 72, depending on which casino you’re in.

If you’re not sure how to bet, the dealer can help you.