Baccarat is one of the world’s most mysterious casino games. Its history reaches back to gambling salons in Italy and France, but its popularity in casinos—especially in the United States—is recent. Fewer than a percent of players choose to sit at the game’s tables, but its wins and losses make up a large portion of a casino’s bottom line. In the past thirty years, it has become a mainstay at casino floors across the country.
A game of baccarat is played with six decks of cards, shuffled together and loaded into a shoe. The dealer then distributes the cards to the players, who take their seats around an oval table that’s been decorated with a bead plate (alternatively known as a ‘cube road’ or ‘dice road’).
Unlike other card games in which the value of the cards are determined by the sum, in baccarat only the right digit counts. For example, a hand with a 7 and a 3 would be valued at 15 because the first numeral drops.
After the players have settled their bets, two cards are dealt to the Banker and Player boxes. If the player’s or Banker’s total points are 8 or 9 on the initial dealing, the hand is a “natural” and the bets are paid. The dealer then takes a third card if necessary.
When a player loses, they can either return their bet or place a new bet on the next hand. In some cases, the dealer may even return the player’s bet and win a new one on the next hand, depending on the rules of the particular game being played.
Some baccarat players believe that certain patterns and trends can give them an edge over the game. In fact, most baccarat players I’ve interviewed refuse to reveal their strategies in any detail. But basic number-crunching suggests that these players are just fooling themselves. The odds are always slightly in favor of the banker, and nothing—not hunches, not patterns, not even the color of the dealers underwear—can change that.
Despite these odds, a significant number of baccarat players swear by their favorite system. They typically play with a bankroll and a bet size, and they follow the rules of the game to avoid losing streaks. One popular strategy is called the 1-3-2-6, which limits a player’s maximum loss to two units of their bankroll. Another is a reinvention of this strategy that reduces the maximum bet by a factor of 2. The goal is to minimize the amount a player can lose while still keeping their bankroll small enough to cover big winning streaks. This is a variation of a ‘bankroll management’ strategy that also works well in blackjack. But it can be a challenge to understand and implement, which is why many new baccarat players opt for the safer bets of Banker or Player. Those bets are less risky, and they can help players build confidence in the game while learning its nuances.