Here at Online Casino Advice, we make sure the only recommended online casinos are the ones we trust to be fair and secure. We know you rely on us to give you only those casinos and rooms that have the very best site security and quick, easy payouts. Listed below are the best casinos that offer Baccarat with payouts averaging over 96%.
Here's how you play: before any cards are dealt, you have a choice to bet on one of three outcomes – the Player wins, the Banker wins, or a Tie. Two cards are then dealt to the Banker (the House) and the Player. In Baccarat, all cards are worth their numeric value, except tens and face cards, which are worth 0. Aces are worth 1.
The object of the game is to get a value of your cards closest to 9. The way you do this is add up the value of each hand's two cards. If this value is under ten that is the hand's "score." If the value is over ten, you then subtract ten to get the real score for that hand. For example, if you have a Queen and an 8, you add them together to get 18. Then, you subtract ten to get your score: 8. Baccarat hands will never have a score over nine. And unlike Blackjack, there is no busting. Who wins? The hand that has the higher value, closest to nine.
Who To Bet On?
But remember, even though you are being dealt cards just like in Blackjack, you can wager on your hand, the dealer's hand or a tie. If you've made a winning bet on the Player hand, the payout is even money, or 1 to 1. If you've bet the hands will tie, that will pay 8 to 1. And if you bet on the Banker's hand to win, you will be paid even money minus a 5% commission.
In both live casinos and online rooms, you will also find a game called Mini-Baccarat. The only difference between it and regular Baccarat is that in mini-baccarat the dealer turns over all of the cards and is thus a faster game. The odds of the two games are exactly the same. Also, if you're playing on a budget, you're more likely to find lower stakes at Mini-Baccarat.
The Baccarat Board
One thing you may see in various online and live casinos is a "Baccarat Board" that tells you the recent past history of hands – how often the banker or player won, or how often they tied. You often see this at the roulette table more often, but it's getting popular with baccarat, as well. The casinos put these up because they know how much gamblers rely on their "gut" telling them when a certain hand or number is "due." In actuality, neither boards in roulette or baccarat matter at all, as each roll or hand is an independent event and does not affect the outcome of a future roll. So have fun with the boards if you want; just realize they do not affect whether you win or lose at all.
It's a deceptively simple game for one that has such "high-class" origins. There really is no strategy beyond not placing the tie bet – the odds are simply not in your favor. The only reason why it's got such a high-stakes reputation is that unless it's played for a lot of money, it might actually get a little boring. But Baccarat is a very popular game, especially in Europe, and we can see why it's marketed to people looking for a little class in their gamble.