House Edge in Baccarat

If you’ve ever set foot in a casino you’re already familiar with the dreaded house advantage. The house advantage is present in every hand or round of every game in the casino. Without the house advantage, casinos wouldn’t be able to make millions upon millions of dollars in revenue each year. Although the house advantage definitely helps the casino, understanding what that advantage means is more difficult. Most people believe that casinos win simply because they will win more than the players, but the truth is that the money is made because the odds don’t match the payouts. Basically the casinos maintain their house advantage in all games by paying all wins less than they odds indicate, and Baccarat is no different.

When you bet on the Player, the house edge is 1.29% and you are paid even money with no commission required. The major problem with betting on the player is that you know, before the cards are dealt that the banker is more likely to win and will ultimately win more hands than they lose. In Baccarat, the house advantage is somewhat straightforward when you bet on the player because you get even money and pay no commission so you win your money back, however in the long run the banker will win.

The house advantage when you bet on the Banker is 1.01%, but you also pay a 5% commission. Although the best Baccarat strategy to employ is to “bet with the Banker”, you still lose money when you bet with the Banker, although the sum is less than if you bet on the Player. For example if you bet on the Banker and you win $100, you will have to pay 5%, which comes to $5. While this doesn’t seem like a bad win, you only win even money and you’ve given $5 away so you’re actually down $5. Betting on the banker is the best strategy because the banker wins more than they lose, but the house advantage is maintained because even when you win with the house, you pay the house and increase their advantage.

The worst bet in Baccarat is to bet on a tie. The house advantage for a tie bet is more than 15%, also known as a sucker’s bet. Although the payout is 8 to 1, the odds of a tie are very slim though there is no reported commission paid on a tie. The rarity of a tie is the most likely reason that the house advantage is so great in the game of Baccarat.

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