If you are interested in playing baccarat, you can now play online baccarat on some of the best internet casinos. You see, the days are over when you could only play baccarat by visiting the brick and mortar casinos. You can now enjoy playing internet baccarat in the comfort of your own home. Whether you want to call it virtual baccarat or internet baccarat, the fact is that you can now play this wonderful game at any time of the day. This all thanks to the evolution of the internet as it has made online baccarat more and more popular. There are now several casinos offering the possibility to play live baccarat, meaning you can actually interact with a live dealer as you place your baccarat bets.
Why play Baccarat Online?
- For those who do not have the possibility to visit a casino offering baccarat tables, playing baccarat online is the best way to have that dream come true. You just need a good internet connection and you are ready to go.
- If you’re tired of losing at playing slots or roulette, then playing baccarat online is definitely the game for you. The average baccarat player has a greater advantage of winning than for example blackjack or roulette players!
- It is really not a complicated game and when the cards are dealt you see the results if you have won or lost. Unlike blackjack, you don’t decide whether you want to ”stand”, ”raise” or”hit”. You only place your bet and then wait to see the outcome. This make playing baccarat online a more relaxing experience.
- If you are not comfortable placing higher bets then a game of online baccarat is the way to go. The minimum baccarat bets are often lower than on the baccarat tables on the casino floor.
- Did you know that James Bond played baccarat in movies like Dr No, Thunderball, Casino Royale, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, For Your Eyes Only, and Golden Eye? Why not feel like a 007 agent and try a game of baccarat? That is just a reason enough!
What is Baccarat?
First of all, if you have troubles pronouncing the word baccarat, it is pronounced as”bah-kah-rah”. Baccarat is a card game that is about comparing cards between two hands. Player and banker are dealt cards and the one with the highest score wins. This makes baccarat one of the easiest casino card games to learn. See the rules of baccarat for more information.
The Baccarat House Edge
All casinos have a built-in advantage on their games. The casinos beat the players because the odds are stacked in their favor, and not because they are ”lucky”. These built-in advantages are called ”house edge”. The house edge in baccarat is 1.06% which means that for every dollar bet, the casino keeps 1,06 cents as profit, and returns the rest to the players as winnings. This can be compared to roulette where the house edge is about 5%, meaning the casinos keep 5 cents as profit for every dollar bet.
However, if you bet one single dollar/euro just once, then you obviously will not get exactly 98,94 cents back. You will either win or lose more whole dollars/euros. The purpose of the baccarat house edge is to know what the average profit is for the casino. For example, if all baccarat players in a casino collectively gamble 1 million dollars on a Saturday night, the casino will expect to keep around $10,600 as profit and pay back around $989,400 as winnings (compared to roulette where the casino will expect to keep around $50,000 as profit and pay back around $950,000 as winnings).
Baccarat Tables
There are three types of baccarat tables: Mini-Baccarat Table, Midi-Baccarat Table, and Big-Table Baccarat. The differences between these baccarat tables are:
- maximum players allowed
- betting limits
- procedures
- speed of the game
Mini-Baccarat Table (up to 7 players): If you are new to baccarat, or want to get a taste of the action, then you should hit the Mini-Baccarat tables. It’s perfect if you just want to play baccarat for fun. This option is available on most internet baccarat casinos, and if you visit the land based casinos, you will find mini-baccarat tables on the main casino floors. The great thing about Mini-Baccarat is that you don’t have to bet big money. The minimum baccarat bets can range between $ 5-25. In general, the online baccarat casinos accept lower bets compared to the land based casinos. The quick pace in Mini-Baccarat might also be appealing. The dealer turns over all the cards making Mini-Baccarat a faster game compared to Big-Table Baccarat.
Midi-Baccarat Table (up to 9 players): These baccarat tables can’t usually be found in the main casino area. Instead you will have to go to the high-limit casino rooms to play Midi-Baccarat, or visit the online baccarat casinos. In Midi-Baccarat, players are allowed to handle the cards which can make the pace a bit slower compared to Mini-Baccarat. The minimum bets are higher than in the Mini-Baccarat tables.
Big-Table Baccarat (up to 14 players): Serious high-rollers are often found playing baccarat in secluded areas of the casino. The minimum bets in the high limit Big-Tables can range between $100-500 per hand. Maximum bets of $10,000 per hand are not uncommon, but the casinos often arrange maximum bets to suit the high-rollers. Players are allowed to handle the cards and the pace of Big-Table Baccarat can be very slow depending on the tolerance for how casinos handle the player ritual. The players may pause before opening their cards, and often they squeeze their cards very slowly as they open them. The speed can vary between 50-70 hands per hour, which is much slower compared to Mini-Baccarat.
How to bet on Baccarat
When you bet on baccarat you bet before the cards have even been dealt. You could argue that there is no strategy involved. The only thing you have control over is to decide what hand you want to bet on: Player, Banker, or Tie – and how much money you want to bet.
You need a bit of luck to win on baccarat which makes the game very unpredictable and at the same time exciting. However, it can be practical to know that the odds favor the house when you play baccarat, but only just.
Betting on Player, Banker or Tie?
The odds will always favor the house. This is true for baccarat and all other casino games for that matter. The banker hand has the lowest house edge of about 1.06%, compared to the player hand with a house edge of about 1.24%. This means that the banker hand is slightly more likely to win over the player hand.
If you on the other hand want to take some risks playing baccarat, then you have an option to bet on Tie. A tie bet has a high house edge of 14.4%! This means that the probability to win on tie bet is much lower than if you would bet on the player or banker. However, if you do win on a tie bet, you will get eight times the money you bet!
The Popularity of Baccarat
Baccarat is very popular in many Asian countries. In Macau, it is maybe the only game that matters as 91% of Macau’s casino gross revenue comes from Baccarat!
The popularity of baccarat has spread all over the world and is today a very attractive game in Las Vegas. Even though the game of baccarat isn’t widely offered, it has been the most lucrative table game since 2009, according to Dave Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Nowadays you will even find high-rollers from Asia flocking to Las Vegas to play baccarat, especially during the Chinese New Years. VIP baccarat games in Las Vegas can often have a $10,000 bet per hand!