Most of us have heard, read, or have been told why you cannot win at baccarat because of the house edge and that because of the house edge the casino will always win.

So, what exactly is the house edge? Is it really as powerful as people say it is? Does it affect you every time you play baccarat? Can it be overcome?

Let’s start by understanding the house edge in baccarat based on an 8-deck shoe.

The 3 primary bets will have the following house edge:

BANKER :  1.06%

PLAYER :   1.24%

TIE :   14.36%

Now then…

If you walked into the casino today with say $500 as your bankroll to play baccarat for a few hours, chances are you will either lose a good chunk, if not all, of that bankroll OR you come out with some winnings. Under these circumstances, regardless of the outcome, the house edge would have had absolutely minimal impact.

If you lose the $500, do you think it is because of the house edge? Not at all. You lost because you had poor bet selection that resulted in more losing bets than winning bets.

If you left a winner, say with $800, did you make the $300 profit because you beat the house edge? I guess you can say you did but primarily the reason was that you picked more winners than losers without even sparing a thought about the house edge!

Essentially, in short-term play, the house edge can be safely ignored. The house edge does not affect an individual’s play that much in short-term play to cause you to lose your bankroll.

As far as the casino is concerned, they are not deriving their income from you individually – they have to look at the big picture and take ALL bets into consideration on all baccarat tables in the casino and that is where they consistently make the established house edge.

If you believe that the house edge actually affects your outcome on each visit to the casino, then you might as well not bother playing baccarat anymore except for the entertainment value it gives you.

Professional baccarat players do not care much about the house edge – they know they do not need to mathematically beat the odds in order to make money playing baccarat.

So what is their secret?

The answer is “Superior Bet Selection”.

If you are able to pick more winners than losers during each session of baccarat to secure your session target, the house edge cannot touch you or affect your session play in any significant manner at all. So do not play with the fear that the house edge will somehow get you! That’s absolute garbage.

All the eBooks published here are focused on helping you with better bet selection strategies and when you combine that with a sound money management strategy, you will be able to make money consistently playing baccarat and not worry that the house edge will eventually get you. It will not!

Superior bet selection will trump house edge any day!

What is the most important aspect of playing baccarat, whether casually or professionally?

The answer is BANKROLL – without your bankroll you have nothing. It’s like a business without cash flow or working capital. So, always protect your bankroll above all else.

To protect your bankroll, you need a sound money management strategy. It’s not rocket science – just plain common sense.

Let me use an example to illustrate what I am talking about.

Depending on which baccarat strategy you plan on using, there is an associated bankroll – let’s call that $BR.

To play baccarat professionally and treat it as a business, you should have 3 x $BR (with 2 in reserve).

Let’s say that $BR allows you to play at a $10 minimum table, then your 1st withdrawal target balance should be set to ([3 x $BR @ $10 min.] + [3 x $BR @ $20 min.]).

That formula is the overall cash balance position for a withdrawal of (3 x $BR @ $10 min.) while leaving a bankroll of (3 x $BR @ $20 min.) to give you the same bankroll ratio to play at the next level of $20 min. using the same baccarat strategy.

In the event that you fail at this new level at a $20 min. table i.e. your 3 x $BR @ $20 min. is wiped out, you still have the original 3 x $BR @ $10 min. to fall back on.

Similarly, the 2nd withdrawal target balance should be set to ([3 x $BR @ $20 min.] + [3 x $BR @ $50 min.]).

That will allow a withdrawal of (3 x $BR @ $20 min.) while leaving a bankroll of (3 x $BR @ $50 min.) to give you the same bankroll ratio to play at the next level of $50 min. using the same baccarat strategy.

In the event that you fail at this new level at a $50 min. table i.e. your 3 x $BR @ $50 min. is wiped out, you still have the 3 x $BR @ $20 min. to fall back on as well as the original 3 x $BR @ $10 min. to fall back on.

So, using this money management strategy, you are protecting your bankroll as you build it up to allow play at higher levels that will give you higher returns which will also allow you to reduce the risk by lowering your session targets since the amount being won has also increased.

Instead of having to win, say 10 units per session, (assuming a single win = +1 unit) @ say $10 min. tables, you just need 5 wins of +1 unit @ a $20 min. table and still win the same amount with less risk as you won’t need to be pushing too hard.

The toughest sessions will be the very 1st stage where you need to reach ([3 x $BR @ $5 min.] + [3 x $BR @ $10 min.]). Fail at this point and your bankroll will be wiped out. It is therefore imperative that you have some solid strategies you can apply to get you there. Once you get past that initial stage, it will get easier.

Do you have the best baccarat strategies to get you past that first stage? If you have, excellent! Just implement the above-recommended money management strategy and you will go far.

If not, then I suggest you educate and equip yourself with these essential publications that can help you decide on the best strategy to be incorporated into your game plan.

Trust me, if you do not have a plan like this, you will never go far. Stop throwing away good money after bad – stop repeating the same mistakes thinking that your luck will change and that your turn to win big is just around the corner.

I guarantee that if you do not change your baccarat strategy or implement a sound money management strategy, NOTHING will change.

Many dream of the glamorous lifestyle often associated with that of a high-roller – jetting around the world’s casino circuits with a small entourage consisting of beautiful women companions and bodyguards with dark sunglasses – wild parties in VIP Clubs or on a private luxury yacht – and so on and so forth.

Is it really possible?

Yes of course it is if you treat it like a business. And like any business, if you do it right, you can be wildly successful which will then allow you to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Is it easy?

Hello NO!

Just ask yourself – is it easy for you to build the next Amazon or Facebook? Absolutely not right? So, playing baccarat professionally and achieving the level of success that will give you the lifestyle you have always dreamed of is also not easy. Not by a long shot.

Just like running a business, there are many variables in play including:

• Working capital – Bankroll
• Operational expenses – Travel, accommodation, entertainment expenses
• Business model – Baccarat analysis, strategy, and execution
• Business constraints – Baccarat table limits
• Knowledge and experience – Knowledge and experience
• Place of business – Land-based casinos, online live dealer casinos
• Hours of business – Hours of play
• And most important of all – PATIENCE AND DISCIPLINE

So you see, there are respective points to take into consideration if you are serious about making money consistently playing baccarat.

How much you make will largely depend on what bankroll you have to begin with. You can of course start low and then build up, just like in a business.

So where do you start and how should you go about it?

The 1st thing you need is a business plan – more specifically, you need a baccarat business plan. If you do not plan, you are gambling and you are planning to fail big time. Having a plan does not shield you from failure but it helps keep you on track and to make any necessary adjustments along the way.

Start by making a list of what you need (as opposed to what you want) and needs will include all your daily and monthly living expenses which you must take care of (usually with the salary from a job for most people). Then make another list of what you want. For each item in both lists – make sure you put a monetary value alongside it so that you can tally it all up.

For starters, focus on the ‘needs list’ only, and when you have achieved that you can then set your sights on your ‘wants list’.

Let’s say that your needs add up to say, $X (or whatever currency you want to use) per year.

$X a year breaks down to = $X / 12 = $M a month

$M a month breaks down to = $M / 4 = $W a week

$W a week breaks down to = $W / 5 = $D a day (assuming you work a 5-day week)

$D a day breaks down to = $D / 10 = $S a session (assuming you play 10 sessions a day – session time varies depending on strategy)

So, if your needs add up to say $120,000, then your breakdown would look like this:

$120,000 a year breaks down to = $120,000 / 12 = $10,000 a month

$10,000 a month breaks down to = $10,000 / 4 = $2,500 a week

$2,500 a week breaks down to = $2,500 / 5 = $500 a day (assuming you work a 5-day week)

$500 a day breaks down to = $500 / 10 = $50 / session (assuming you play 10 sessions a day)

Now then…

What bankroll do you have to start with? That is the most critical question! If you start with too little, you stand the risk of losing it all very quickly. Ask yourself, if you were to start a business that can net you $120,000 a year, how much working capital do you think you will need to get it to that level?

For baccarat, it will then depend on the strategy you intend to use to achieve your objectives. If you don’t have a strategy then you need to equip yourself with some sound strategies – otherwise, you are just gambling blindly – you might as well just send your hard-earned money directly to the casino – it will save you time!

To make $50 a session is relatively easy with the right strategy and bankroll. So if you play at say $25 tables, that equates to winning 2 units per session. So you will need to apply a strategy that can deliver 2 units per session.

And if your base unit is $50, then the requirements will be halved to just winning 1 unit a session, making it even easier – so it is all relative to your available bankroll.

You should use a spreadsheet to keep track of your bankroll and session progress, taking into account occasional withdrawals to meet your needs and so on. And as your bankroll grows, you can at some point play at a higher base level like $50 base, $100, $200, $300, $500 etc.

In due course, if you progress steadily (no not rush as Rome wasn’t built in a day), you could well be playing with $5000 base units and at that level, you would be making $5,000 a win. You won’t need many wins at that level a day to afford the lifestyle we talked about at the beginning of this post!

BUT don’t get all dreamy and excited – you WILL NOT get there overnight! You need to plan and plan properly and you must have the mental discipline to stick to your game plan.

Along the way, your strategy may fail – and you must be able to handle the good with the bad. A setback is not the end of the world as long as you are disciplined and NOT COMPULSIVE.

Like any business, sometimes your business will face a downturn or some other problems but if you are patient and work at it, eventually you ride out the bad times.

Most importantly, you do NOT need to beat the game of baccarat in order to make money from it. You just need to apply the correct strategy to secure the wins you need, session by session, and slowly but surely you will be heading towards your ultimate dream lifestyle.

Start with having the best tools available to help guide you – read these eBooks to get on the right track. They DO NOT promise you a ‘Holy Grail’ but they will give you great insight and strategies to secure the session wins you need.

If you do not have the skills or knowledge, you do not have a chance in hell of getting anywhere near that dream.

And worst still, if you do not have the patience or discipline, don’t even bother, you will only end up blaming everybody else but yourself – I have seen this happen to many people and I don’t want you to be the next one to happen to.

We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of the first set of ‘Real Baccarat Data’ which consists of Shoes #1 – #5.

Real Baccarat Data are real baccarat results recorded from real land-based casinos.

These data sets are ideal for players to use for testing baccarat strategies and also for practice.

Please note that TIE games have been omitted from these results because primarily these data sets are targeted at players who are using either ‘The Baccarat Code’ or ‘F-15 Baccarat’ strategies where TIE games are ignored and are of no consequence.

Real Baccarat Data are presented just like our eBooks. The pages can be flipped manually or you can use the auto-flip feature which has been set to turn the page after 20 seconds.

This is ideal for players to train themselves to make a bet selection decision within 20 seconds just like in real life when you play at the tables.

More sets will be added as we format them for upload.

Each set consists of 5 unique shoes (averaging approximately 60 games per shoe) and you can access them after you log in.

No account yet? SIGNUP for a FREE Member Account!

Despite TIE and PAIR bets being very poor choices of bets to make when playing baccarat, punters seem to love it!

I posted a progression for playing TIE previously and I have since received several requests for a progression that combines both TIE and PAIRS (Banker + Player Pairs). TIE pays 8:1 and PAIRS pay 11:1 and some players simply focus on playing these 3 bets throughout a shoe and often to their own detriment.

No doubt it feels great to win when these bets win and I have seen instances whereby all 3 bets win in a single hand. I have on rare occasions experienced this personally even though I very rarely play these bets.

The progression table is designed based on units so you’ll need to convert the units to the currency you are playing with.

The progression shown below offers 20 steps but the actual steps available to you will depend on the table limits where you play so please check so that you know how many steps you have and the respective bankroll required.

The progression is also designed to deliver a minimum of +1 unit net win (all prior losses are recouped) on either TIE or either a BANKER PAIR or PLAYER PAIR bet winning. Anytime a win is captured, reset and start over at BET#1.

The table also shows columns for a combination of wins of TIE with one or both pairs. Yeah, it sure looks really nice to win all 3 bets in a single hand but trust me, they are very rare, so don’t get your hopes high playing these 3 bets.

I stress again: these 3 bets are NOT recommended as the house edge is rather high compared to the normal BANKER or PLAYER bets. Learn some real powerful strategies here.

DISCLAIMER: No warranties or guarantees of any kind are implied in the progression table below. The information is provided on an “as-is” basis and no accuracy is guaranteed. Use at your own risk and neither the author/publisher are to be held responsible for any losses incurred when using the progression provided.

Progression Table for TIE – BANKER – PLAYER PAIRS

If you entered ‘baccarat betting strategies’ into Google, it will kick out over 120,000 results though not all are relevant. So, let’s start with a definition:

“A betting strategy or betting system is a highly organized methodology adopted by gamblers who are attempting to beat the game or the casino to make a profit. Most betting strategies are based on analysis of game statistics.”

There are many critics of betting strategies and betting systems and they all make similar statements such as this example:

“No matter what system to use, it is impossible to overcome the house edge and therefore you can never beat the <game>” – where <game> can be any game.

The above statement is downright wrong. Let me explain!

It is not the game that cannot be beaten – actually, it is the casino itself. What do I mean by that? Let’s take baccarat as the <game> to beat. If there were no restrictions placed on the game itself or on the player in any way, baccarat is easily beaten by simply using the Martingale i.e. the simple double-up as you lose system.

So, let’s all get this right – all games, in fact, can be beaten if it was a level playing field. If the games can never be beaten, then the casinos will not need to impose betting limits for the games.

Games themselves do not have such rules – all betting limit rules are set by the casino, otherwise, anyone with sufficient bankroll would be able to kick their butt every time they play.

So, what casinos have done by imposing betting limits is to make it more difficult to beat the game. However, our purpose, when we hit the tables is NOT to beat the game.

Our primary purpose is to make a profit and leave with the profit! If that is not your objective, then you might want to think through your primary purpose before your next visit to the casino.

It is because of table limits that gamblers have had to resort to creative betting strategies to try and win consistently on each casino visit. Most betting strategies are simply a sequence of bets as dictated by the system and take absolutely no consideration of bet selection and that’s the primary problem.

Are Baccarat Betting Strategies Necessary?

That depends on what your primary objective is when you go to the casino. If you are going there just for some fun with a small wager, then you have no real need for a betting strategy – just go try your luck and have fun!

On the other hand, if you are going to the casino to win some money and you plan to do this regularly, then absolutely, YES! – you should learn about betting strategies and see how they can be adapted to suit your own game plan.

7 Baccarat Betting Strategies Decoded

The most popular and well-known roulette betting strategies include the following:

1. Martingale / Grand Martingale / Reverse Martingale
2. Labouchere / Reverse Labouchere
3. D’Alembert / Reverse D’Alembert
4. Fibonacci
5. Parlay
6. Guetting
7. Oscar’s Grind

This is a FREE eBook that goes into more details about each of the above-mentioned betting strategies. To read the eBook just signup for a FREE Member Account and log in to read.

When you are logged in, be sure to visit the ‘BOOKSTORE’ where you will find 4 top-selling baccarat strategy eBooks that can help propel your game to a whole new level.

It is NOT recommended to bet on TIE when playing Baccarat, but if you are intent on betting on TIE then below is a 50-step progression to secure a win on TIE.

The numbers are in ‘Units’ so you will need to work out the monetary values based on the table you play at.

Furthermore, check the table limits to see how deep you can go in the progression.

Please note:  ‘Win PO’ is inclusive of the units placed for a winning TIE bet.

A short introduction to Baccarat

Baccarat (also known as Punto Banco or Chemin De Fer) is actually a very easy and fast game to play. You do not really need to know the rules of the game because, baccarat, unlike blackjack, has no optional draw of cards.

Cards are drawn according to a set of rules and baccarat dealers are the ones who need to be proficient, not you!

The game of Baccarat can be played using either a full-sized table that usually seats 12 – 15 players in an elegant and sophisticated setting, or it can be played on a mini version of the table that can accommodate up to seven seated players.

Layout of a full sized Baccarat table

Typical Mini-Baccarat table

There are three possible betting choices with the respective odds:

Betting on BANKER or PLAYER, the winning hand is determined by the hand with the highest point count after all cards are dealt for the hand.

The minimum point is 0 and the highest point count is 9.

In determining the point count, cards have the following values:

Any combinations of cards totaling 10 or a multiple of 10 will also have a value of 0.

Examples:

Ace + 6 = 7

Ace + King = 1

Ace + 9 = 0

10 + Jack = 0

2 + 3 + 9 = 4

5 + 5 + 5 = 5

As mentioned earlier, baccarat is a game with NO optional draws. Cards are drawn according to a set of rules and each side can never have more than three cards drawn.

A variation of baccarat is one with NO COMMISSION deductions for BANKER wins. However, this version of ‘no commission’ baccarat usually pays 50% if the BANKER wins with a point count of 6 (often referred to as a B6 win).

In a typical Baccarat hand, four cards are dealt, to begin with:

1st card goes to the PLAYER

2nd card goes to the BANKER

3rd card goes to the PLAYER

4th card goes to the BANKER

* If either the PLAYER or the BANKER or both have a point count of either 8 or 9 with their first two cards, then no further cards will be drawn. Both hands will stand. This rule will override all other rules with respect to drawing the 3rd card.

If neither the PLAYER nor the BANKER cards have a ‘Natural’ 8 or 9 after the initial two cards each, the above is then followed by drawing a 3rd card for PLAYER and BANKER according to the following rules:

Drawing the 3rd card for the PLAYER side:

Drawing the 3rd card for the BANKER side:

In a typical 8-deck Baccarat shoe:

The BANKER bet has a probability of approximately: 45.86 %

(BANKER win pays 1:1 with 5% commission deduction)

The PLAYER bet has a probability of approximately: 44.62 %

(PLAYER win pays 1:1)

The TIE bet has a probability of approximately: 9.52 %

(TIE win pays 8:1)

Note: During a TIE, BANKER and PLAYER bets do not lose.

Baccarat is an easy, fun, and fast-paced card game. To win consistently, however, may not be so easy or that much fun! However, with sound knowledge of game analysis and bet selection techniques, it is quite possible to win consistently. To learn how the pros do it, click here.

Announcing the immediate availability of the latest publication: ‘Baccarat Dynamic Lines of Symmetry’.

What is Baccarat about if it is not about ‘patterns’? Players are forever scrutinizing LED screens and their cards to see if they can extract useful information from the data to help them with the next bet selection.

The usual primitive approach is to look at how many times BANKER or PLAYER have come up consecutively, or how many times they have zig-zagged and then make a decision as to whether the current trend will follow suit.

In ‘Baccarat Dynamic Lines of Symmetry‘ I have gone deep and leveraged ‘Dynamic-D1’ values to identify simple but extremely powerful lines of symmetry that offer far more insight than just counting how many BANKERS or PLAYERS have repeated or skipped thus far.

This new and unique approach has become my go-to approach whenever I play baccarat and it has allowed me to easily secure an average of 5 units per session or 50 units a day – playing 10 sessions. A ‘session’ is NOT playing a complete shoe – some sessions are over within the first 15 – 20 hands dealt!

I highly recommend all baccarat players get a grasp of this approach which is highly effective.