Baccarat Online

Baccarat is one of the signature games of casinos the world over. The favorite game of James Bond (in fiction) and his creator Ian Fleming (in reality) it naturally has an allure which brings to mind visions of high rollers in Las Vegas or Monaco.

But this is only part of the story. Whilst it’s true that many high rollers (players who play for big stakes) are attracted to Baccarat, thanks to the internet, you can now play online, without having to contend with intimidating casinos or experienced players winning big all the time.

You can even play free Baccarat online, at many casino sites, which is naturally a great way to learn to play without committing or losing any money, and you can make the transition to the real thing once you have got a feel for it!

But what about the rules of Baccarat game – how do you play it?

One further advantage of playing online as against the face-to-face variant is that you don’t actually have to worry too much about the rules in detail!

This is partly because there are in fact 3 versions of Baccarat; Chemin de Fer and Baccarat Banque are really for the high rollers and involve a more cooperative approach which needs multiple players, one of whom acts as banker, then there is the Punto Banco type, where you simply play against the house (ie. the bank) and it’s irrelevant as to whether there are any other players present or not.

Generally you will be playing this latter variant (which you may sometimes see listed simply as ‘Punto Banco’) at online casinos, which brings us to the next reason why the finer points of the rules aren’t worth getting too hot under the collar about when it comes to how to play Baccarat online – you will be playing via software (for instance from NetEnt) which automates everything.

All you really need is the basic Baccarat rules which are as follows:

You are playing against the house (the banker), and not against other players.

The idea is to bet on who will win, you or the banker, so in other words you can bet against yourself.

The winner, banker or player, is determined by who gets the closest to 9 from the cards dealt.

Winning banker or player bets pay out at evens. So if you bet 1 on the banker (ie. not your own cards) and the banker gets 9 or closer to 9 than you do, you win 1 (plus having your stake returned).

Actually there’s a slight qualification – the house usually takes a small percentage, called a vigorish, on winning bets on the banker, of 5%, so actually you’d win 0.95 on a successful 1 banker bet (winning bets on the player payout with no vigorish).

Finally, it is possible to get a tie in the card game baccarat, ie. when both player and banker get the same scores, and this can be bet on too – it pays out at 9:1 so is not to be sniffed at when the numbers come up!

And that’s about all you need to know about how to play Baccarat!

Some tips on online baccarat strategy to help you

The first thing to remember is that the Punto Banco Baccarat casino game is a game of chance; there is nothing you can do to influence the outcome, you are not using your skill against opposing players, and even questionable activities like card counting, since it’s not real decks of cards being used but a computer program which has no ‘discards’ as such.

So there is no real long term strategy of any great repute like doubling your stake each time you don’t make a winning bet, and the popular ‘avant dernier’ tactic of always betting on what happened on the hand before last is similarly illusory.

But one thing that is worth mentioning when you play online Baccarat is that there is slightly more chance of the banker winning than the player.

Moreover, there are a few casinos who take a smaller vigorish than 5%, or even no vigorish at all, which significantly ups the odds in your favor.

In general the best casino Baccarat strategy, and this goes for both online and bricks and mortar versions, is to go in with a clear ceiling of winnings after which you will quit, and at the same time a figure for losses, below which you will also quit.

So for instance if you had a bankroll of 100, you might want to quit once you’ve built it up to 120, or alternatively quit if it falls below 80.

Either of these figures are realistic and yet the can be attained in a both a very short space of time and also over the longer haul; either way you will have had a scintillating gaming experience without breaking the (ie. your own) bank.

And, finally, if you want to enhance your playing environment further, you can go for the live dealer Baccarat offered by many gaming sites out there.

This is the nearest you can get to a live Baccarat game without actually walking into a casino – you play via a video link up with a live dealer who is an actual human being, but from the comfort of your own home (or wherever you are!) so it’s ideal, not only if you don’t want to visit a casino but also for those who live in out of the way places too!