Baccarat offers some of the best odds in the casino. You can look forward to a 1.06% house edge when you wager on the banker hand to win. Therefore, you’d think that baccarat would see the house earn a slim profit margin.
In reality, though, the opposite is actually true. Research shows that Las Vegas casinos hold under a 13% house advantage.
How in the world are Vegas casinos winning $13 out of every $100 wagered in baccarat!? Are they cheating gamblers?
You can find out the answers to these questions as I discuss more on this game along with how Sin City is winning so much through it.
Why Is Baccarat Considered Such a Beatable Game?
Real money baccarat offers a few choice bets that make it an attractive game. As mentioned before, the banker wager only carries a 1.06% house advantage.
The casino takes out 5% commissions from winning banker hands. They need these commissions in order to keep their advantage. After all, the banker wins over 50% of the time.
The player hand is no slouch either. You’ll only face a 1.24% house edge if you wager on the player side winning.
Of course, these odds still don’t measure up to the banker bet. But the player wager is a suitable alternative if you get tired of betting on the same thing over and over.
The third common wager is based on both hands tying. The tie bet’s house edge varies based on whether you receive an 8-to-1 or 9-to-1 payout for winning.
With a 9-to-1 payout, the house advantage is 4.84%. If you only get an 8-to-1 payout, then the house edge jumps to 14.36%.
In either case, you don’t want to mess around with the tie bet. All you really need to do is wager on the banker or, as a secondary option, the player.
The Shocking Revelation About Vegas Baccarat Winnings
The UNLV Center for Gaming Research regularly performs studies involving the Las Vegas gaming industry. Their numbers from 2019 reveal a shocker about baccarat.
According to UNLV’s stats, Vegas casinos notched a 12.93% win rate against baccarat players. This win percentage isn’t just some fluke either.
Sin City has been dominating the baccarat tables for a long time. Here’s a look at their win rates over the past five years:
- 2015 = 12.60%
- 2016 = 14.33%
- 2017 = 12.70%
- 2018 = 12.35%
- 2019 = 12.93%
Many people call slot machines one-armed bandits for their tendency to take gamblers money. But the casino’s slots win percentage from 2019 is only 6.90%.
By comparison, baccarat looks like the real bandit. It gives casinos almost twice the amount of profits as slots on a per-dollar basis.
Why Do People Lose So Much Playing Baccarat?
I must admit that I was shocked upon seeing how much Las Vegas wins through baccarat. Again, this game features two wagers that carry just over a 1% house edge.
If gamblers simply stayed with these two bets, they’d win a lot more money—or at least give away less to casinos. But the average player doesn’t use good baccarat strategy.
Some gamblers foolishly make the tie bet. As covered before, this wager can feature up to a 14.36% house advantage.
But even the tie wager isn’t entirely to blame here. Instead, side bets are the real culprit to why players lose so much with this game.
Here are some different baccarat side wagers along with their house edges:
- All Black = 6.53% house edge
- All Red = 14%
- Bellagio Match player side = 5.27%
- Bellagio Match banker side = 8.57%
- Dragon Bonus player side = 2.65%
- Dragon Bonus banker side = 9.37%
- Dragon 7 = 7.61%
- Lucky Bonus = 2.34%
- Matching Dragon = 16.99%
- Panda 8 = 10.18%
As you can see, some of these bets feature really high house advantages. The Matching Dragon, All Red, and Panda 8 wagers even rival the tie bet in terms of poor odds.
Is Baccarat Actually a Sucker Bet in Disguise?
You might think that something is wrong with baccarat based on how much casinos are winning. After all, a 12.93% win rate in Vegas is massive.
But baccarat in itself isn’t a sucker bet that should be avoided. Instead, it’s simply a game that’s full of sucker wagers.
You don’t have to bet on the tie, Matching Dragon, or All Red. No casino rule compels you to ever choose these terrible propositions.
Instead, you just need to be educated on the game to avoid making huge mistakes. As long as you know that the banker and player wagers are the best, then you can use optimal strategy.
If you play this game long enough, though, you may feel adventurous and want to make a side bet. In this case, you should at least choose side wagers that have fairly low house advantages, such as Lucky Bonus and Dragon Bonus (player side).
What You Can Do to Avoid Being a Huge Baccarat Loser
You don’t have to fall in line with the average Vegas baccarat loser. Instead, you can be a good player and boost your chances of winning with the following simple tips.
Stick with the Banker Bet
If you want to play baccarat perfectly, then you only need to do one thing: make the banker bet.
This wager reduces the house edge to just 1.06%. This is actually one of the lowest house advantages in all of casino gaming.
As mentioned before, you can also mix things up with the player bet and still enjoy solid odds. But if you just want to give yourself the absolute best chance of winning every time, then there’s no reason to go away from the banker hand.
Avoid the Worst Side Bets
Baccarat offers an interesting array of side bets that look attractive due to their exotic rules and big payouts. Therefore, you may consider making one or more of these wagers.
The problem, though, is that none of these bets improve your chances of winning. Instead, they promise big payout potential but actually cause you to lose more money in the long run.
You can still find a few decent side bets in baccarat. But you definitely want to avoid anything that features above a 6% house edge.
Be Aware of the Game Speed
Baccarat comes in two main forms in land-based casinos, including the “big” and “mini” versions. Big baccarat takes place on a table with 12 to 14 seats in high-roller areas. Unless you’re risking $100 per hand, you won’t be playing this version.
Mini baccarat, on the other hand, happens on a table with seven seats. It features low stakes and is accessible to any gambler.
The mini version moves much faster than big baccarat. A table with a fast dealer could log anywhere from 150 to 200 hands per hour.
That said, you need to be aware that mini baccarat plays quicker than other table games. You might be facing a low house edge with the banker bet, but you’ll also be exposed more to the house advantage as well.
I’m not saying any of this to scare you away from baccarat. I just want to reiterate that this game forces you to make more decisions per hour than other table games.
Combine Great Odds with Rewards
You can boost your baccarat winnings even further with online bonuses along with VIP rewards. Both land-based and online casinos offer loyalty benefits. You’ll enjoy these rewards right away at online casinos after registering and depositing.
Land-based casinos, meanwhile, require that you sign up for the player’s club first. Once a member, you’ll receive a player’s club card that you can hand to the dealer before playing.
Internet casinos offer the additional benefit of deposit bonuses. These offers deliver bonus cash when you make a deposit.
In some cases, you can earn hundreds of dollars through these deals. Just be sure to read the terms and conditions before getting started.
Conclusion
Baccarat is a really simple game on the surface. You only need to make one bet—the banker hand (1.06% house edge)—over and over to achieve optimal strategy. You can also deviate from this strategy with the player hand (1.24%) if you get bored.
As easy as baccarat strategy is, though, some gamblers fail to look into the matter. They make all sorts of bad side bets as a result and lose far more money.
Las Vegas doesn’t boast a 12.93% win rate in baccarat because players make smart decisions. Instead, they take advantage of the situation by offering terrible side wagers.
Luckily, you can easily avoid these pitfalls by sticking with the banker hand and, occasionally, player hand. Both of these wagers give you a much stronger chance of winning than any side bet ever could.
Michael Stevens
Michael Stevens has been researching and writing topics involving the gambling industry for well over a decade now and is considered an expert on all things casino and sports betting. Michael has been writing for GamblingSites.org since early 2016. …
