Baccarat is a game of chance and so there can’t be anything like the best baccarat strategy that will win you the baccarat game. The Internet is filled with baccarat guides making tall claims about their sets of baccarat strategies. However, you must remember that a surefire baccarat strategy is a myth.

Since baccarat is a game of chance you can do very little to improve your odds. However, there are some things central to baccarat that will help you in improving your chances of winning baccarat games. Our baccarat guide will introduce you to those little things and some big things that will show you how to play baccarat.

Keeping in mind the house edge is a good baccarat strategy. This will give you an option to make calculated decisions.

Keeping in mind the commissions paid (5%) on winning the banker’s hand is also important.

Betting types

House edge

Betting on the player’s hand

1.29%

Betting on the banker’s hand

1.01%

Betting on a tie hand

15.75%

If we leave betting on tie out of the equation for a while, then the results of baccarat games look like this:

• The banker’s hand wins 50.6% of the time.
• The player’s hand wins 49.4% of the time.

Martingale - 'double or nothing'

The game plan is simple under this system. If you win, just re-bet with the previous amount and if you lose, double your bet. If you win the second hand after losing the first, your loss will be evened out and if you win the first and lose the second hand, still your bets will be evened out. If you keep on losing, doubling on each hand will provide you a chance to recover your lost money.

This works fine if this is not your worst day, when you’re in a streak of non-ending losses. So, be cautious. The progression of betting reads like this:

Number of items lost in a row

Starting stake: $1
(all figures in Dollar)

Starting stake: $2
(all figures in Dollar)

Starting stake: $5
(all figures in Dollar)

Start

1

2

5

2

2

4

10

3

4

8

20

4

8

16

40

5

16

32

80

6

32

64

160

7

64

128

320

Statistically, over a period of time, the player’s hand will win as often as the banker’s hand (keeping out the slight advantage the banker’s hand has), but this statistics stands true only in the long run (long run means thousands of hands).

There is another is a higher risk variation of Martingale called Grand Martingale. In this system, the bets are increase at a greater rate to make quick recovery.

Grand Martingale

On losing, double your bet and add one unit to the original bet. The shortcomings and risks of Martingale system applies here as well, but the effect is magnified. The progression reads like this:

Start

1

2

3

4

5

6

6

5

- $1120

4

- $57

Next Bet: $126

3

- $26

Next Bet: $63

+$2

- $11

Next Bet: $31

NA

- $4

Next Bet: $15

Profit

- $1

Next Bet: $7

Losses

Next Bet: $3

Starting Bet $1

D'Alembert - 'Pyramid'

D'Alembert can be thought of as Martingale at a slower pace. This is a low-risk system that has a pyramid like structure. If you follow this system, you must increase your bet by one unit if you lose and decrease the bet by 1 unit if you win. This system provides some protection against ups and downs and goes slow. The progression reads in this way:

Start

1st Loss

2nd Loss

3rd Loss

1st Win

2nd Win

3rd Win

-$30

-$15

Next Bet: $20

-$10

-$5

Next Bet: $15

Next Bet: $15

+$5

0

Next Bet: $10

Back to Starting Bet: $5

+$10

Starting Bet: $5

Next Bet: $5

Profit/Loss

Parley

It is another double or nothing strategy. Using this system, you increase your bet when you are winning to capitalize your winning streak. This is martingale in reverse.

The strategy is simple. Pick you color and stay with it. When you win double your bet, and when you start losing, stick to your previous bet. Always remember where to stop, or else your risking your profits. The progression reads like this:

No. of successive wins

Starting Bet: $1

Starting bet: $2

Starting bet: $5

Start

$1

$2

$5

$2

$4

$10

2

$4

8

20

3

$8

$16

$40

4

$16

$32

$80

5

$32

$64

$160

6

$64

$128

$320

7

$128

$256

$640

Contra D'Alembert

It’s a lower risk variant of parley, played with the same objective of capitalizing on the winning streak. If you are planning to stick to one system for long, this can be a good bet.

Contra D’Alembert is the reverse of the D’Alembert System. This system asks for increasing the bet by one unit on winning and decrease the bet by one unit when losing.

Start

1st Win

2nd Win

3rd Win

1st Loss

2nd Loss

3rd Loss

+$30

+$15

Next Bet: $20

+$10

+1$5

Next Bet: $15

Next Bet: $15

-$5

0

Next Bet: $10

Back to Starting Bet: $5

-$10

Starting Bet: $5

Next Bet: $5

Profit/Loss

Baccarat Tips

How to Play Baccarat

Step-by-Step Guide to Baccarat