How to Play Baccarat Like a Pro
You probably heard all about how Baccarat is a game of chance as well as a risk-seeking high roller’s choice, without any known strategies that would ensure a continuous winning streak. Be that as it may, Baccarat is far from being a chaotic game taking away all control from the player – the evidence of that is Tommy Renzoni, aka the father of Baccarat. In his book, Renzoni on Baccarat, the beginners are taught (straight from the horse’s mouth) about Renzoni’s own gambling principles and philosophy that he developed in his career as a professional gambler.
Those of you who expect some sort of a revolutionary revelation or a bullet-proof winning formula on how to always win at a Baccarat table may be sorely disappointed, as neither Renzoni nor other professional gamblers and Baccarat enthusiasts such as Akio Kashiwagi (RIP) would be able to provide it for you. What they do offer is a behavioural system, the implementation of which will bring results.
Regardless of their individual gambling habits, styles and preferred variations, most of the professional players agree on the following bits of advice and you will find that the one thing pretty much all of the hardcore gambling veterans and experts have in common are the principles listed below.
Bets to Avoid
Starting with the absolute basics, if you are just beginning your Baccarat journey, we bet that the very first advice you will receive is to steer clear of the infamous Tie bet. Money and fame hungry beginners will be tempted by the bet’s great payout rate, however, the dollar signs are probably blurring your vision, preventing you from noticing the house edge that comes with this bet, which is 14.4%. Statistically, Tie bet almost never wins and is therefore rightfully known as a sucker’s bet.
Sure Bets
Banker is absolutely a number one bet in Baccarat! Although is comes with a low payout rate of 1:1, Banker bet will give you a great statistical edge, as it will come up as a winner in more than 50% of the time. The advantage of the Banker bet does not, however, come without a price and the casino will take a 5% commission – a factor that may be quite off-putting to some players. Even so, impulse and greed have no room in professional gambling and steady, moderate winnings that you accumulate by consistently playing on sure bets always beat foolhardy losses.
Press Your Bets
This advice is likely to cause controversy and you will find conflicting opinions on how to behave during your winning and losing strings. Many experienced players would strongly recommend staying moderate since a single twist of fate can cause an irreparable damage to your balance. Others, including Renzoni, have different notions, arguing that winning streaks are virtually pointless if you do not make the most of them and press your bets while you’re ahead. In other words, some of the most successful professional players never quit while they are ahead – quite the opposite; they only quit (or reduce the bets to the table minimum) when they are in a disadvantageous position.
Budget Management
This is a crucial factor in any game, not just Baccarat, and has a lot to do with the previous section. The basis of this principle is to keep the losses under control by wagering minimum amounts and not try to recover your balance by increasing your wager after a loss. Keep this going until you start winning again and get your money’s worth by going all the way for as long you have luck by your side. The idea behind this strategy is to last out during the dry spells and earn as much as possible when you enter the winning streak.
Conclusion
The best piece of advice that anyone can ever give you is to find a system that works for you and learn from your own mistakes. This is easier said than done, but the truth is that each of these pieces of advice can be adjusted according to your own needs, which is exactly what professional players have been doing in order to get where they are now – they created their own winning systems and modified them along the way. If you want to quit while you are ahead, then do it, regardless of what some rulebook is saying. If your gut is telling you to stay moderate with your bets although you are winning, then go with your gut. The pieces of advice listed above are just the guidelines that you should use as reference points and you should always bend them and model them in a way that will work for you. This is how a true professional gambler and a Baccarat player is shaped.