It should come as no surprise that online casinos operate with a house advantage, just like their cousins in the real world. This is just the way it goes, whether you are playing in Las Vegas, Macau or online in your PJs. Casino companies don´t operate for fun: they are businesses, and they need to make a profit like any other business. The way they do this is to levy a charge for people to move money and chips around in their casino, just as banks charge to move money around the financial world. If you are playing Texas Hold ´em poker, this is the rake. You´ll be charged a small fee for the dealer to deal you a hand.
A casino will keep a portion of the bets going over its tables for itself. This money does not go into the overall pile that pays the winners: it goes to the casino.
That much is generally understood (although some people choose to not think about it). What I find intriguing, is not that people play play roulette or blackjack- it is good fun after all and there are winners as well as losers- it´s that many punters who frequent casinos often play the tables or machines that are the most pricey to play, i.e. that have the biggest house edge.
If you are going to bet, it is advisable to play casino games that give you the best chance of winning, or at least to play games that are weighted to the best payouts.
Now let´s discuss online baccarat, as this will illustrate my point. The Banker Bet in baccarat has a house edge of just 1.1%. American Roulette comes in at a less than satisfactory 5.3% and if you play keno you´ll be paying a 25% “casino tax”. You´ll get very good odds if you play blackjack online IF you play a perfect blackjack game (by that I mean you stand at the optimum time to give yourself the best odds). Baccarat is a beautifully simple game, on the other hand- so it is easy to play to a perfect strategy.
This is one of the key drivers behind the popularity of Baccarat, especially when it comes down to high stakes players and high rollers, as this game has one of the lowest house advantages in the casino. Often you will see baccarat tables in Vegas and Macau sectioned off from the general public. That´s because the baccarat tables are where the big money and glamour are. And it´s a similar story if you play online baccarat.
But you don´t need to be rich and famous to have a go. Play online and there are no velevet cords stopping you from getting to the tables. The best baccarat bet is the Banker Bet as the house only takes 1.17%, while the house edge for a player bet is slightly more, but still an accaeptable 1.35%. Don’t play the tie bet. Although the pay out is tempting at8:1, compared to 2:1, the house edge is punitive at 14%.
So why is roulette more popular than Baccarat? I don´t know. It beats me. I put it down to the film industry, but even that puzzles me as baccarat has its fair share of film scenes and James Bond moments.
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6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
True…
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
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6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
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6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
ok well, thanx for ur help
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
A bit of Googling led me to this: “Completion of this sidequest grants access to Baccarat Casino. This sidequest is completely optional and apparently even if you don’t do it, the casino will eventually open on it’s own.”
So if the casino is open, I would guess there’s no way to trigger the side quest. Sorry.
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
Really? I don’t think I have a completed game without the side-quest already finished, or I’d see if/how I could trigger the Baccarat side quest.
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
never have? i tried talking to them a lot of times but the just keep saying things like ‘i may be co-owner,but if youve got a complaint tell it to my brother’ and stuff like that
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
I never have, but I don’t see any reason you couldn’t. As far as I’ve been able to tell, beating the game doesn’t do anything but unlock the Dragovian Sanctuary.
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
can i still do this side quest even though i already beat the game? i need to kill red horn and blue fang to finish my monster list…. HEEELLLPPPSSS!!!
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
You can play baccarat for fun or real money at all of the online casinos listed at http://www.ranked-online-casinos.com/baccarat-online-casinos.html
They have many other casino games as well, and best of all you can play them for fun first and play for real money later if you decide to do so.
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
Baccarat is a table game that is offered at both online casinos and land based casinos. You will find most online casinos will allow you to play their free games version and you will often find Baccarat is free to play in guest play mode.
Check out the different microgaming online casinos at the following website and try their Instant Flash software and try playing Baccarat.
http://www.best-online-casinos-and-gambling-bonuses.com
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
The Ranked Online Casinos site at http://www.ranked-online-casinos.com has information about roulette and baccarat in the section about casino games. In fact, there is info about nearly every conceivable variation on blackjack, including Spanish 21, Face Up 21, Super Fun 21, Pontoon, and others. There are rules on the different games, as well as tips too!
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
In Baccarat the only decision you make is on Player, Banker, or Tie. Due to the drawing rules, Banker is the slightly better bet, but the House takes 5% on all Banker wins.
I don't think that there are any ways to increase your chances of winning like in Blackjack.
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
I suggest you to play poker, its better than baccarat because its more skill, in baccarat the odds are always against you while in poker its more skill.
Read http://bettingwise.hit.bg/Pokertips.html
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
There is one system in baccarat that is 100% guaranteed to win. Unfortunately you will probably have to stand in the casino for 5-6 years before you get the right conditions and then you have to feel confident that you did not screw up while watching the table. The payout is high since tie pays 8 to 1 so if you pick a table with a high limit the payout can be $300-400k. The problem is that is less than you'd have made if you just got a job rather then babysitting a table 16 hours a day for 5 years. Not to mention if you screw up and make a mistake there goes your large wager.
Card counting for baccarat is a waste of time. While baccarat does share the same characteristics as blackjack the effect of is so small that it is not statistically significant.
As such the game is reduced to just guessing. There is no system to predict the outcome of the next hand based on previous hands or patterns.
I rarely play house games but if there is no poker going I might sit down at a baccarat table just to kill time. In those situations I play follow the leader. I simply bet what the previous outcome was. No reason other than the alternative is to try to guess which will just be annoying and frustrating. This way at least it is out of my hands.
If you are intent on playing baccarat I suggest playing a variant called Chemin de Fer. It is next to impossible to find in North America (I've only seen it at private games in Vegas and Detroit but never at a casino) but you can find it in Europe esp in Monte Carlo. This version of baccarat can be beat and is actually quite profitable. I wish we had it in NA as I rarely get to play.
In the long run no one wins at baccarat. The reason it seems everyone has a lot of money is because the game (especially full baccarat not so much mini-baccarat) is played by people who have money and egos. They have a lot of chips because they brought a lot of chips. What you'll often miss is that as they lose chips they replenish them with markers. The house edge is small and people do wager large amounts so when they win it looks like a lot of money but over the long run anyone who has played baccarat seriously has been an overall loser.
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
Rules for the game of baccarat can be found at http://www.takevegashome.com/baccarat_rules.shtml There are also places listed there where you can play baccarat online or for real money.
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
play streaks and bet with the people betting big money
6:23 am on October 8th, 2009
The bank hand is favored in Baccarat. The advantage is diminished by the 5% vig you pay on a winning bet.