Online Baccarat Strategy and Rules
In different casinos around the world baccarat is played differently and therefore the baccarat strategy differs. However, online baccarat strategy is simplified meaning common rules an tips will help you win and have fun at all online casinos. (See also other game strategy for casino sites).
In online baccarat the software plays out the deal between the Player and the Banker as per the rules of the game without any player intervention. The player has to decide before the cards are dealt whether the Player will win or the Banker will win or the hand will end in a tie. Hence the player has three options. The first option is to wager on the Player, the second option is to wager on the Banker and the third option is to wager on the Tie Bet. Actually the software allows the player to wager on two of the three options and also on all three options. But doing so is a losing online baccarat strategy.
All three options will be examined one by one to arrive at the optimum baccarat strategy. The Tie Bet usually pays out at 9 to 1. In the first instance this appears to be an attractive wager. But online baccarat strategy compares the payout with the probability of success. The chance of both the Player’s hand and the Banker’s hand ending in a tie is so remote that even at a payout of 9 to 1 the Tie Bet is a sucker bet. Therefore online baccarat strategy states that the Tie Bet should be avoided at all costs. Once in a while a player may have a hunch that the hand may end in a tie and may want to place a wager on the Tie Bet. In a sense online gambling is about backing hunches and therefore wagering on the Tie Bet occasionally should be acceptable. However there is an important baccarat tip that needs to be kept in mind. Some online casinos offer a payout of only 8 to 1 for the Tie Bet. Hence players who may want to wager on the Tie Bet should seek out online casino sites that offer a payout of 9 to 1 for the Tie Bet.
Now the baccarat strategy for the other two wagers can be examined. The payout for the wager on the Player winning is 1 to 1. The payout for the wager on the Banker winning is also 1 to 1. However the online casino deducts a commission of 5% from the payout in the case of the Banker winning. Because of this many players follow an online baccarat strategy of a wagering on the Player. This is not the correct baccarat strategy. Based on the probabilities of the Player and the Banker winning, wagering on the banker is the better baccarat strategy despite the 5% commission. Hence the optimum online baccarat strategy is to wager on the Banker every time. Here again there is a baccarat tip that the player should keep in mind. Because of the 5% commission on the Banker bet the payout is usually in fractional amounts. For example if the player wagers $1 on the Banker and wins he will be returned his original wager and $0.95 in winnings. Some online casinos make payouts only in increments of $0.10 or even $0.25. In the former case they will make a deduction of $0.10 instead of $0.05 and the player will unnecessarily lose $0.05. Hence the baccarat tip is to check out the payment policy of the online casino before wagering and to adjust the bet amount so that only the commission is deducted from the winnings and nothing else.
There is a baccarat strategy that some players often employ. When they feel that they are in a winning streak they increase the amount of the wager. Likewise when they feel that they are in a losing streak they decrease the amount of the wager. The objective of this baccarat strategy is to cash in when the going is good and to put on the brakes when the going is not so good. This online baccarat strategy does not have any mathematical or logical basis. But there is no harm in employing it so long as the player does not go overboard while increasing the amount of the wager.
