The only thing wrong with this article is the subhead, “Rituals You Won’t See in Vegas.”

That made me laugh, as a young Asian man and an older Chinese woman with $5000 bets taught me the proper way to peek at my cards at the Mirage.  They even declared me an ‘honorary Asian.’ I was very flattered.

Baccarat, the Chinese way: Rituals you won’t see in Vegas

Macau, China (CNN) — Baccarat is not just for James Bond anymore. It is the game of choice for Chinese gamblers from mainland China and Hong Kong. Both groups make up the majority of gamblers in Macau. And they bring some unique, superstitious rituals with them that you won’t see in Las Vegas.

If you watch many Chinese gamblers play baccarat in Macau, there is a good chance you will see the players squeeze the cards tightly between their fingers, slowly peek at the cards by lifting the vertical end just enough to see the suit and number, then turn the card horizontally to peek at the number again.

Each time, they crease the cards rendering the cards unusable for another round (Macau casinos seem to tolerate this). The slow dance of peeking and creasing is to increase the suspense as the player hopes for a good pair of numbers that close in on the magic number: 9.

Some Chinese players even blow on the cards, hoping to “blow away” bad numbers. At one table with a sizeable group, a woman exclaimed “hoi, hoi,” (“turn it over, turn it over”) as she watched a player perform his ritual.

“Sometimes, you almost believe that they can actually change the outcome of a card by the way they squeeze the card. So there’s a lot of superstition,” said Scott Milburn, vice president of table games at City of Dreams.

But you don’t need to know the rules to play baccarat.  The rules dictate what cards will be drawn and when, but the dealers will tell you exactly what to do and when to do it–knowing the rules can add to your fun, but it won’t affect whether you win or lose.

One more thing–DON’T feel intimidated if you don’t know the rules–I’d be shocked if more than 15% of regular baccarat players are sure what’s supposed to happen with every hand that comes up. In fact, if you’re reading this article you’re probably in a group of 2-5% of all baccarat players that actually take the time to study the game–congratulations!

BETS

You have three choices of what to bet in Baccarat- Banker, Player, or Tie. Unless you are a wild and crazy gambler, don’t bet Tie, it has terrible odds and ties only occur about one in ten deals.  Also, if you bet either Player or Banker, if a Tie happens you don’t lose your bet, you get to try again.

HAND RANKS

The goal in baccarat is to get the highest hand possible, with 9 being the best hand–much like blackjack, suit does not matter at all. Cards are ranked as follows:

A =1

2-9 = face value

10, J, Q, K = zero.

If your hand is higher than ten, you add up the total and only use the last digit.  So, if you are dealt a 7 and a 6, you have 7 + 6 = 13, so your hand is a three.  If you’re dealt a King and a 5, your hand is five. A 9 and a 6 is 9 + 6 = 15, or five.

THE FIRST TWO CARDS

One hand is dealt for the Player, and one for the Bank.  Whoever has a higher hand once all the cards are dealt wins, with a Tie resulting in a “push” (nothing happens).

Each hand gets at least 2 cards and no more than 3. The Player hand gets the third card first (if necessary) ,then the Dealer hand gets a third card (again, if necessary).

Before we get to that third card….. if either hand is dealt a two-card 8 or 9 (called a natural) there is no draw, and “the cards speak.”

So, if the Banker hand is dealt an 8 to start, it doesn’t matter what the Player has, the hand is over and the highest hand wins. If either hand starts with an 8 or 9 there are no more cards.

If neither hand is a natural, the value of the player hand determines if they will get a third card. If the Player hand is between 0 and 5, the Player gets one final card. If the Player hand is 6, 7, 8 or 9, then the Player stands pat and we move on to the Banker hand.

If the Player stands pat with two cards, the Banker hand draws with any value between 0 and 5, and does not draw with a 6 or 7.

THE THIRD CARD

So, if neither player has a two card 8 or 9, and the Player does draw a third card, how to we figure out if the Banker gets a third card?

The answer depends on two factors: the value of the third card dealt to the Player, and the value of the Banker’s two card hand.

The chart used in every book and on every website I’ve seen is necessary, and I’ve linked to it here. However, I think that there is a (slightly) easier way to remember if the Banker should draw:

If  the Banker has 0, 1, or 2, draw every time. If the Banker has 7, stand pat every time.

If the Banker has 3, 4, 5, or 6 the following rules apply:

If the Player’s third card is an 8, stand pat every time. Otherwise:

Always draw to a 3.

Draw to a 4 except against 1s, 9s, and 10s.

Draw to a 5 against 4s 5s 6s and 7s.

Only draw to a 6 against 6s and 7s.

That’s it, with a little practice and a few sessions, you should have the skills to deal a game of baccarat at the big tables.  You don’t need to know the rules to enjoy baccarat, but it can make the game a lot more interesting.

**UPDATE BELOW**

Naturalbaccarat.com feels scared just typing this, but we think the Wizard is wrong when he says there’s no point in counting cards in baccarat.

In Frank Scoblete’s Baccarat book, he mentions a system for counting by Tamburin and Rahm that let’s you know when betting “Player” is a better bet than “Banker.”

In short, this is their system:

The shoe starts at +14
card have values of:
8,9,10,J,Q,K = -1
2,5 = +1
3,4 = +2
A,6,7 = 0

Anytime the count drops below zero, you switch from betting Bank to Player and improve your odds.

I find it hard to believe Tamburin had it wrong, and while you can’t have a positive EV bet in baccarat, reducing your losses is a good thing, and counting keeps your brain working.

Am I incorrect in asserting that counting has value in baccarat (and is fun) or has the Wizard made a rare mistake?

**UPDATE**

Well, the Wizard was kind enough to answer and tell me I was wrong–but I asked the wrong question.

Instead of asking whether or not it was “worth it to count cards” in baccarat, I should have asked if you should always bet Bank.  The answer, according to Tamburin, is that if you were an excellent card counter you would bet Player about 10% of the time!

Of course, this being baccarat, the overall gain in odds is miniscule. If you play $100 per hand, in an hour (roughly $6000 dollars played) you’re looking at a max of $5.40 per hour reduction in your expected loss. That’s assuming perfect play.  Which you won’t be able to compute at the table anyway.They say .09% reduction in the house edge is perfect. Not 9%. 0.09%. As in nine-hundredths of one percent.

Still, I can’t help but enjoy the idea that there’s a perfectly good reason to switch to betting “Player” sometimes. It makes the game fun and keeps you involved. And now you have a legitimate reason to use that pad and pencil they have waiting for you.

So join me in counting cards at baccarat. It may only be worth a penny per hand, but it IS the correct way to play the game.

**originally titled, “Is the Wizard Wrong? Betting ‘Player’ in Baccarat”

I tracked 72 hands, playing $25 out of my $1000 bankroll of e-money on the Banker each time. 72 hands approximate roughly one hour, or most of a shoe at a big table in a quick live game.

The first 16 hands were your usual back and forth, with 6 player wins and 9 bank. But with a Tie on the 17th hand, the game took a turn- seven Player wins in a row.

Devastating for sure, but because I was following the “40″ rule, I only lost about 20% of my chips during that wave of destruction.

Through the first 40 hands, we had:

3 Ties
18 Banker
19 Player

And suddenly, the tide turned, five Banker wins in a row, then four more, then six!

Way out there in single-digit likelihood, I finished with 9 more Bank wins than Player, and tucked away a tidy profit of $173.75.

It’s crucial to play with a big enough bankroll to handle the wild swings of the game, and it even easier to be 9 bets down than 9 bets up, so make sure you’re prepared when you see Player win seven times in a row.

Where to play baccarat in Vegas is minibaccarat.

Welcome baccarat online website!

Baccarat game is a very good game to play at online casino. It should be known that to play baccarat, you have either the bet ‘Banker,’ bet “Player,” or bet “Tie.’

When Australia Kerry Packer win at baccarat, she play at online casino.

When six or eight decks used, little chance to manipulate online baccarat odds.

Here in this window with no popup browser play online baccarat for the low house edge, only 1.06% for Banker bet and 1.24% on player bet.

History of game is baccarat for home internet casino.  Play with signup bonus and even know rules not necessary.

—

Jim Calvin would be fired if he didn’t work for free.

Rest assured, dear reader, it’s not a conspiracy to confuse you, it’s just that you’re not asking the right questions.

If you want to know the rules of baccarat, or more specifically, Punto Banco, click on the link.

But if you want to know how to get from this column to sitting at the Wynn, smooth as James Bond, playing baccarat with style and confidence, read on.

First, what those other sites said is true–Once you have selected ‘Banker,’ ‘Player,’ or, heaven forbid, ‘Tie,’ there are no actual decisions to be made.

Here are the things you need to know to look sharp and enjoy yourself at the tables.

1) Dress Well.

Not only is it fun to dress up when playing baccarat, you’ll feel out of place in jeans and a t-shirt at the big tables.

2) Have at LEAST 20x the minimum bet

There’s nothing worse than getting up the courage to try a new game, observing it, sitting down, and busting out in 10 minutes. Baccarat is streaky, runs of 8-15 bets either way aren’t uncommon, make sure you have the bankroll to withstand the swings.

3) The biggest bet on ‘Player’ gets the cards.

It’s fun to peek at the cards, bend them, worry the edges, say bizarre incantations, and scream “Monkey,” like an angry Chinese man. You only get to if you bet the big bucks.

5) When it’s your turn to deal, bet ‘Banker.’

It’s true, the rules (usually) allow you to bet ‘Player’ even if you are dealing the cards. But baccarat is a classy game, and if you’re dealing, stay classy and bet ‘Banker.’

4) The decks, or ‘shoe,’ passes counterclockwise.

Baccarat is the opposite of most card games, in that when the shoe is passed, it goes from left to right. If you end up as the Banker and lose, you don’t want to shove the cards the wrong way.

5) If you are playing ‘Banker,’ pay your commissions as you go.

There are two reasons for this one. First, sometimes it will save you money, as commissions are sometimes rounded down to the nearest whole dollar amount. It’s nice to pay as you go on a $50 bet if they let you pay $2. That takes a 5% banker commission down to 4%.

Second, you don’t want to have your commissions piling up as you win, lose all your money at the end, and have to call your Mom for $500 to cover the commission on your $25,000 of wagers you lost trying to double up on the last hand. There’s no worse feeling than busting out and STILL owing the casino money. Pay as you go.

6) It’s bah-cuh-rah, not back-ah-rat. Baw-cuh-raw.

The Baccarat Bankroll Calculator is still in beta testing, but here’s the formula we use to calculate the necessary bankroll to safely survive 3, 2-hour sessions at baccarat.

We anticipate that you’ll play about 60 hands an hour in the big game, about 80 in midi-baccarat, and about 130 for mini-baccarat.

That assumption aside, all we need to know your required bankroll is the size of your average bet and the amount of time you intend to play. Then, we use the math for determining standard deviation. The formula for standard deviation is

# hands x win% x lose% = sd^2

So, in six hours of baccarat, you can expect to play 360 hands (6 hours x 60 hands/hour = 360 hands). In baccarat, excluding ties, the banker wins 50.68% of the time, and the player wins 49.32%. The formula would look like this:

360 x (.5068) x (.4932) = 89.9833

The square root of 89.9833 is just under 9.5.  While only mathematicians will care for exact values, just know that 68% of the time, results will be equal to or less than 1 SD, and 95% for 2 SD’s.

Put another way, you will win OR lose less than 9.5 bets 68% of the time, and win or lose less than 19 bets 95% of the time.

In our above example, if you bet $300 per hand, you can expect NOT to go broke most of the time if you have over $2850 in play, and you will very rarely go broke (roughly 1 time in 40) if you sit down with $5700 or more.

Still too complex? Just know that if you have 20 bets when you sit down and color up some cheques, your chance of going broke in a 24 hour baccarat bender is only 15%.