Baccarat has a reputation as a glamorous, high-stakes casino game with Bond-dipped mystique. But on a quiet night at the Hard Rock Cafe’s Peacock Lounge, Lou discovers the game’s Zen-like minimalism. In its simplest form, players bet on either the player or banker and the hand that comes closest to nine (picture cards and 10s count as zero, aces count as one) wins. A winning banker hand pays out 95% of the amount wagered, while a winning player bet returns 100%. But the rules for when a third card is drawn add an element of uncertainty, and it can drastically change the outcome of the hand.
In addition to betting on the player, banker or tie, there are several side bets available in baccarat. Depending on the establishment or platform, these bets may have different odds. The player pair side bet, for example, pays 11:1 odds and wagers that the player will receive a matching set of cards on the deal. Another popular side bet is the banker pair, which wagers that the banker will receive a pair on the deal and pays 5:1 odds.
Before placing any bets, players should familiarize themselves with the rules of baccarat. It’s important to understand that the game is a table game, so you must stay at the table until the hand has been completed. Additionally, baccarat etiquette dictates that players should not leave or enter the baccarat room while a game is in progress.
To play baccarat, six decks of cards are used and shuffled together. Then the players are seated in random order around an oval-shaped table. The croupier deals the cards, and the game is played in rounds. The object of the game is to predict which hand, the player’s or the banker’s, will come closest to a total of 9. Players place bets on either the player or banker and win if their chosen hand wins. The banker hand is usually the preferred option, as it has better odds of winning.
A seasoned baccarat player, let’s call him Francois, has developed a definite strategy for playing the game. But he’s not sharing it, at least not publicly. A former blackjack counter who’s been banned from global blackjack pits, Francois knows how to play baccarat with an edge that casinos can’t detect. He uses a variation of the Martingale strategy—which is widely considered to be the best system for casino games that pay even money—to reduce his losses and maximize his wins. But it’s a secret that he keeps even from his friends. This makes him a mystery to the clueless copycats who sit in his spot at the baccarat table.