Some players believe that they can use card counting techniques for Baccarat but I can assure you that it will never work nor have any impact on the outcome of your Baccarat sessions.

The reason is simple. Let's say the casino you go to uses 8 decks of cards but if you are observant, you will notice that the cut-off marker is placed about 1 deck from the end i.e. at least one deck of cards will NOT be used in that session because when the hand being dealt hits that cut-off marker, that will be the last hand of the shoe.

So that means your 8 decks are now reduced to just 7 decks in reality.

Furthermore, before each hand is dealt, the casino will "burn" the first card and then proceed to deal the cards for PLAYER and BANKER.

Each shoe will generally have approximately 60 hands or so, which means that the casino will "burn" about 60+ cards that will also never be used in that session.

That takes the number of playable decks down to just 6 decks of cards.

If you're trying to use a card counting strategy to give you a favorable betting signal you're on an uphill battle as you will have no idea what value cards have been taken out of that session and your count would be very distorted.

If you want to have a chance to win consistently, you need to have several sound strategies under your belt and apply the appropriate strategy for appropriate circumstances.

At the end of the day, it will NOT be the house-edge that beats you, it will be your own poor bet selection that beats you. Period.

Over the years I have taught many baccarat players and I have sold many of my books to those seeking a professional approach to playing baccarat.

I have met all sorts - but one thing was common - they were all gamblers who had lost a lot of money and they wanted to find a way to get it back.

Some had lost thousands while a few had lost hundreds of thousands and each one also said that they did not believe one could win consistently. If that was their belief, why were they still seeking a solution? Why not stop gambling completely? It baffles me whenever someone I come across tells me that. Why would you keep looking if you truly believe you can't win?

And then there are some who believed me and bought my books but there is a sub-group that I know will never make it - it is the 'compulsive gamblers' group. The number of times I have come across them and the pattern is always the same:

• They contact me and tell me how much they have lost and asked if I can help them - I say "Yes"
• They ask me if I can guarantee their success - I say "No"
• They decide to proceed to either learn from me or buy my books
• They learn the strategies and during the learning process they realize there is light in the tunnel
• They are excited and raring to go and I remind them that Rome was not built in a day
• They start playing and they start making $1,000 a day - they are ecstatic!
• After repeatedly winning for between 14 - 60 days, inevitably they contact me to say the system failed
• They start pointing fingers - they claim I said the system will not fail (which I never say)
• They get all depressed and ask me why they lost and my answer is always the same - "Look to yourself - did the system fail you or did you fail yourself?"

Why is it that all their failures happened later rather than sooner?

Why did no one say they lost on the very first session they played after learning the strategies?

Why?

The answer is simple...

In my books I teach them 3 key points:

1. I teach them what to bet on using a unique and powerful method of analysis
2. I teach them how much they should bet once they have identified what to bet on
3. I teach them when they should place the bets

BUT the most important lesson I teach is "DO NOT GAMBLE - WORK FOR IT!"

I teach them to treat baccarat as a business - I teach them about bankroll (money management) and I teach them how to make a plan and how to act on that plan.

I warn them about certain "dangers" that can affect their "business" and I stress they need to be patient and work on their plan one session at a time and not overdo it.

I do everything I can to help them achieve their goals and I see them all start off well and go well for a while but the "compulsive gamblers" group always fail.

Why?

You guessed it! They stopped "working" and started "gambling" because...

• They became complacent and they started taking unnecessary risks
• They were over confident and started being cocky and began to veer away from their plan
• They started throwing the odd extra bet like TIE, Banker / Player Pairs (but they didn't realize that these extra bets add up very quickly)
• They started pushing the limits of their concentration by playing far too long (beyond their plan) and with that mistakes crept in that were costly
• ....and on and on and on.....that's what a compulsive gambler does.

So at the end of the day, who failed who?

Don't know what 'virtual gains' are?

Let's use an example to illustrate.

With baccarat, the even-money bets are BANKER or PLAYER (except for BANKER winning on 6 with no-commission baccarat).

And let's assume you decide to use 'The Martingale' money management strategy where you double after every loss until you win.

Let's see what happens, starting with 1 unit bet:

Spin-#        Bet Units        Result        Overall Balance

1                      1                    L                       - 1

2                      2                    L                       - 3

3                      4                    L                       - 7

4                      8                    L                       - 15

5                     16                   L                       - 31

6                     32                   L                       - 63

7                     64                   L                       - 127

8                    128                  W                      + 1

So, in the above table, to play 8-steps of Martingale will require a bankroll of 255 units to secure just 1 unit with a win within 8 bets.

What are you going to do if you only have a bankroll of say, 50 units? You can only go as high as step-5 but step-5 is not always sufficient to secure a win.

This is where 'virtual gains' can help you.

What you do is wait for 3 paper losses before you start betting your 1st step.

So, wait until you have 3 x Ls

Then start betting with 1 unit, doubling up each time you lose until you get a win.

With this strategy, the 3 x Ls are referred to as 'virtual gains'.

You gained 3 steps by waiting for 3 x Ls to appear and therefore artificially giving yourself 8-steps instead of just 5-steps with your limited bankroll.

The disadvantage of this strategy is of course you will lose out on all the wins between step-1 and step-3.

So, will you try this strategy?

I suggest you get hold of some session data and check it out!

If you feel it can work for you, great!

If not, it doesn't matter, you can use this approach to think about how else you can maximize your wins!

 

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!

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.

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.