No, baccarat is not that hard to play

Chinese Algebra, now that’s hard. Superman’s six-pack, now that’s hard. Baccarat? No, baccarat is not that hard to play. Baccarat is in fact one of the easier casino games to learn and enjoy. Whether playing baccarat online or at a brick and mortar casino you will find it is simple to play, once you understand the basic mechanics.

Betting in baccarat is as easy as falling off a log. It’s just all the mad-keen punters that make it look difficult. Regular baccarat punters often delude themselves into thinking they can devise a pattern or theme in the order the cards have been pulled. So they sit at the table scrutinising their score cards. But in truth, the betting process is as simple as clapping heads or tails. In blackjack, you have to decide whether to hit or stand, while roulette and craps have a whole heap of betting options.

How to play baccarat

Playing baccarat is simple because the main bet is pretty much a 50/50 decision; a choice between two options: Player or Banker. Will the cards drawn result in the Player or Banker having a higher total?

And it’s easy to tell where to place a Player or Banker bet, because each section is emblazoned with either PLAYER of BANKER so it takes an absolute turkey to muck up his or her bet. There is also a third possible result from any given baccarat hand and that is a tie, but you know what? Who cares? If you have a bet in play and a tie comes up, then you don’t lose your money, it is returned. We recommend steering clear of the tie bet, because it has a very high house edge, and is not profitable in the long run. If you wish, play it very rarely.

Why is baccarat easy?

First of all baccarat requires no skill or action from the punter. It is a game solely controlled by pre-set rules which the croupier in charge must adhere to – your actions do not affect the outcome. For a full rundown of the rules which the croupier must follow, check our baccarat rules and tableau page here.

As stated earlier, baccarat is pretty much a 50/50 bet. Well that isn’t quite true – just because there are two main betting options doesn’t exactly make it a genuine toss of a coin. Taking the house edge and the tableau into account, you have a slight advantage betting on Banker, however that advantage is taken into account by the house via the 5% commission deducted from ever winning Banker bet.

The house edge on Banker is 1.06% and 1.24% on Player. This low house edge is highly beneficial to you, the eager punter – each bet is only that percent shy of “true odds” (0% house edge, a.k.a a fair coin toss).

Play online baccarat for real money

Playing baccarat at a brick and mortar casino can be a little daunting because you have other punters yelling and carrying on, and dealers trying to hurry you along screaming “Last Bets” and “No More Bets”. That and the flashing lights and drunks stumbling around can be enough to intimidate anyone. On top of that, land based casinos offer few baccarat games tailored for lower stakes players, reserving games for high rollers.

With online baccarat, there are no time constraints – unless you play live dealer baccarat options, where there is a set time placed on each hand, but the experience is all the more exciting and genuine. The lay out is not complicated or overcrowded by other people’s bets, in fact in the simpler versions there are three bets: Player, Banker and Tie. Wagers can start as low as $1 per hand, and reach as high as $10,000 per hand – so players of all stakes can enjoy the flexible betting limits. There are also multiple different variants of online baccarat to explore.

Where to play online punto banco

The following trusted online casinos offer a range of baccarat games, including live dealer options:

• www.RoyalVegasCasino.com offers up to AUD$1200 in new player casino bonuses.
• www.Guts.com offers up to a $300 welcome bonus and 100 free spins on their popular pokie Starburst.
• www.GdayCasino.com offers a matched first deposit bonus up to any amount and a slab of VB.
• www.EmuCasino.com offers up to $300 matched welcome bonus and 10 free spins popular pokie Rook’s Revenge.

Depositing and withdrawing funds is also simple but check each site for their preferred options, terms and conditions. All personal details are kept confidential, and transactions are secured with digital encryption technology. Good luck.