If you can choose standard baccarat, the Banker bet has the lowest house edge at about 1.06%; Player is ~1.24%; Tie at 8:1 is terrible at ~14.4%. Avoid side bets unless you know their math. In “Super 6” no-commission games, Banker worsens to ~1.46% so Player becomes the better core bet; in EZ Baccarat, Banker pushes on a 3-card 7 and sits a touch better at ~1.02%. Crypto “provably fair” implementations let you verify RNG deals with server/client seeds and a nonce—but they don’t change the edge.
The baccarat bets, ranked by math
Standard punto banco with commission has three primary wagers:
- Banker: ~1.06% house edge
- Player: ~1.24% house edge
- Tie (8:1): ~14.36% house edge
These figures are robust across 6–8 deck shoes and are widely documented in full return tables. In short: bet Banker if available, or Player if you insist on avoiding commission; never rely on Tie as a main wager.
Some venues offer 9:1 on Tie; that slashes its edge to about 4.85%—still worse than Banker/Player, but materially better than the usual 8:1.
Variants that change the edge (and your default bet)
No-commission and specialty tables tweak payouts to remove the 5% commission, and that changes optimal choices:
- Super 6 / Punto 2000: Banker pays 1:1, except a Banker 6 pays 1:2. Banker’s edge jumps to about 1.46% while Player stays ~1.24%. Prefer Player on this layout.
- EZ Baccarat: Banker wins pay 1:1, but a Banker three-card 7 becomes a push instead of a win. This yields a Banker edge around 1.02%—slightly better than standard. Player remains ~1.24%.
Always check the table sign/rules; the same word “no-commission” can hide very different maths.
Side bets: entertaining, but usually expensive
Common side bets include Pair, Either Pair, Dragon Bonus, Panda/Dragon 7, “Big/Small,” and many more. A few headline examples (exact pay tables vary by casino/software):
- Player/Banker Pair (11:1 typical): house edge about 10.36% with eight decks.
- Either Pair (5:1): house edge around 13–14% depending on decks.
- Dragon Bonus: can range widely; one common pay-table yields about 2.65% edge on Player and 9.37% on Banker.
Treat side bets as volatility add-ons, not edge reducers. If a table advertises unusually good side-bet returns, look up that exact pay-table first.
“Trends,” boards, and card counting: what actually helps?
Baccarat’s dealing rules are fixed, and once the shoe is shuffled, boards of past results don’t predict the next hand. Card counting exists in theory, but rigorous analysis shows the practical gain is tiny and rarely actionable in live or RNG formats. Focus your effort on table selection and bet discipline—not pattern chasing.
Edge-manipulating techniques like “edge sorting” have been ruled cheating in the UK’s leading case (Ivey v Genting). Do not attempt methods that alter or exploit card imperfections.
Crypto angle: what “provably fair” actually guarantees
On crypto-friendly sites, many RNG tables are “provably fair.” Before play, the casino commits to a hashed server seed; you supply or confirm a client seed; each bet increments a nonce. After a seed rotation, you can verify the outcomes by recomputing them from the revealed server seed, your client seed, and the nonce. This protects against post-deal manipulation, but it does not lower the house edge.
If the baccarat you’re playing is live-dealer (real cards), the fairness mechanism is regulatory testing rather than a seed/nonce reveal. Always read the game’s fairness or rules page to know which you’re getting.
Bankroll and session management that actually reduces losses
Expected hourly loss ≈ average bet × hands per hour × house edge. To minimize it:
- Prefer single-shoe standard tables or EZ Baccarat over Super 6 when possible, based on the edges above.
- Keep units small and fixed; do not chase losses. Progressions like Martingale don’t change expectation and can explode on rare streaks.
- Cap session loss and walk at a modest win to avoid giving profits back to volatility.
- Skip or sharply limit side bets unless a specific pay-table is proven favorable.
Quick decision guide
- Standard baccarat available? Default to Banker. Avoid Tie at 8:1.
- Only Super 6 no-commission? Prefer Player; Banker worsens to ~1.46%.
- EZ Baccarat on offer? Banker regains a slight edge (~1.02%).
- Tempted by side bets? Check the exact pay-table; most are high edge.
- Crypto RNG table? Use the provably-fair verifier, but remember it doesn’t change the math.
