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Baccarat Strategy
The
Objective
of Baccarat
The main objective of Baccarat is to
draw a two- or three-card hand that
totals closer to 9 than the banker.
10, J, K, Q count as 0, A is a 1 and all
the other cards are face value. If
your total is more than ten, you drop
the ten. For example, a 7-9 hand totals
to 6 (16, drop ten). You cannot go
bust in baccarat.
The Rules
of Baccarat
First of all, the banker and the player each draw 2 cards. If
either the player or banker cards total
8 or 9, both then automatically stand.
If the player's total is either 6 or 7,
then the player stands. If the
player stands, the banker then hits on a
total of 5 or less. If the
player's total is 5 or less, the player
automatically hits and the banker gives
the player a 3rd card. If the
player receives a 3rd card then the
banker will also draw a third card
adhering to the following rules:
-
Banker's hand totals 0,1,2: Banker
always draws a third card.
-
Banker's hand totals 3: Banker draws
if Player's third card is
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-9-0 (not 8)
-
Banker totals 4: Banker draws if
Player thirds 2-3-4-5-6-7
-
Banker 5: Banker draws if Player
thirds 4-5-6-7
-
Banker 6: Banker draws if Player
thirds 6-7
-
Banker 7: Banker stands.
After all the
cards are dealt, whoever arrives with
the total closest to 9 wins the hand.
Betting
Bet on your own hand (Player) and you
face a house edge of 1.24%. Bet on the
Banker's hand and the edge is either
0.6% if there's a 4% House cut or 1.06%
is their cut is 5%. Finally there's the
Tie bet which at best gives the house
almost a 5% edge (Pay 8:1) and at worst
14+% (Pay 9:1). Forget the Tie bet for
obvious reasons. Unless you can find a
game with 4% vig on Banker bets, betting
Player or Banker is six of one, half a
dozen of the other.
Baccarat Strategy
The only thing you must do is to
avoid the tie. Baccarat is
such a simple game that there is
no actual strategy to win or
improve the odds. Don't bother
counting the cards as you will
only be wasting your time.
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