How to Play Baccarat at Online Casinos
One of the most common table games that you will see at online casinos outside of Blackjack is baccarat. While some may think that Baccarat is overly complicated, the fact is that it is a simple game to learn and to play. Also, if you are looking for a game with a low house edge, this is it as it has the lowest out of the table games you’ll find at widely played online casinos.
Today, we will teach you how to play Baccarat online and give you a general guide for playing the game, including some tips for beginners.
Baccarat Rules are Simple
As we stated earlier, Baccarat only looks complicated. The reason it’s so simple is that your only action in the game is to bet. Everything else in the game is handled by the dealer. Before receiving cards, you can make the following bets:
Player – This bet pays 1:1 and you’re betting that you’ll win the hand.
Banker – This bet also pays 1:1 and you’re betting the dealer (Banker) will win the hand.
Tie – This is the best paying bet at 8:1. It’s also the hardest to hit.
After you bet, you don’t have to do anything else. However, you definitely should know how the game works. Your objective is to make a hand of nine, or as close as you can. You don’t have to worry about going over in this game. Here are the point values of each card:
· Aces = 1
· 2 through 9 = Face Value
· K, Q, J = 0
Once you bet, both the dealer and active players receive a pair of cards face up. Points are then totaled. If your hand is over nine, the first digit is dropped and your total is the second digit. For example, if you get two eights for a total of 16, the 1 is dropped and you have a 6.
There are some automatic winning hands in this game. Should either the banker or player have an 8 or 9, that hand wins. The only exceptions are where you and the banker tie or when you have an 8 and the bank a nine. In the later case, the banker wins.
If your hand totals 6 or 7, you must stand. If your hand totals 0 to 5, then you will get a third card automatically.
The banker has different rules for drawing their cards. When players don’t draw, bankers play based on the player rules. However, if a player draws a third card, bankers must draw based on the card a player draws.
· Player draws 9 through Ace – Banker stands on 4 to 7 or draws on 0 through 3.
· Player draws an 8 – Banker stands on everything but on 0 through 2.
· Player draws a 6 or 7 – Banker stands on 7 and draws on 0 through 6.
· Player draws a 4 or 5 – Banker stands on 6 and 7 and draws on 0 through 5.
· Player draws a 2 or 3 – Banker stand on everything but 0 through 4.
If a draw is required, points are totals after the draw and winning hands are paid out. The banker scoops up losing bets. Should a tie occur, only the tie bet is paid.
Baccarat Tips And Strategy
While Baccarat is very simple to learn and play, there’s still some strategy involved if you want ot maximize your profit. Below are some tips and strategy to help beginners win more at Baccarat.
Banker Bets Are the Only Smart Play – Since the rules of Baccarat are static and the Banker has an expanded set of rules for drawing, Banker bets have a slight edge over player bets. As such, you should always bet the Banker. Long term, this will win you the most money.
Don’t Bet the Tie – The tie bet has a 14.4 percent house edge. In other words, you are guaranteed to lose $14.40 for every $100 bet. This is a sucker bet and should be avoided.
Practice Bankroll Management – Baccarat is a streaky game, so you will want to practice bankroll management for each session. Use a stop loss for every session you play. If you have $100 in your online casino account, sit down with $10 to $15. If you lose your stack, quit for the day.
Take Advantage of Casino Bonuses – Online casino bonuses will give you extra money to play at the Baccarat table. A match bonus of 100% on a $50 deposit will give you $100 to play at the Baccarat tables.
