Baccarat is a good fit
for folks who enjoy the agony and ecstasy of gambling as well as
the resplendence of the milieu, and don't come to the casino primarily
or exclusively to parlay small stakes into big bucks. The latter,
because the game does not have a payoff schedule with high retuns
for low-probability results. To win a lot, a person must bet a lot.
Likewise for losing.
In baccarat,
bettors can put their money on Player hoping to win 1-to-1, or Banker
to get 1-to-1 minus that annoying 5 percent commission. There's
also an 8-to-1 payoff wager on Tie. But Tie gives the house an exorbitant
edge and 8-to-1 isn't exactly a ticket to Easy Street; sophisticated
gamblers accordingly tend to avoid it altogether, or at most to
bet it on the side at a lower level than they're risking simultaneously
on Player or Banker.
Most casinos
spread baccarat in standard as well as mini versions. The standard
game generally has higher minimum bets, uses a larger table with
more dealers, lets bettors handle the cards, and proceeds at half
the pace or less. But the structure is the same in either case.
On a round-by-round basis, chances of winning or losing, and of
getting ahead or behind by varying degrees, are therefore mathematically
identical.
One factor that
may help you decide whether to try baccarat involves the bankroll
swings you can expect to undergo during a normal session. Use minibaccarat
for estimation purposes. Betting on every round, you'll get about
250 coups in a two-hour sitting.
Say you bet
the same amount on every round, keeping to Player or Banker. Further,
assume you stick it out for two hours despite your bankroll fluctuations
during that period. On the upside, your chances exceed 20 percent
of finishing with a profit over 10 times your bet, and 7 percent
of ending above 20 units. On the downside, the probabilities are
about 32 percent of losing 10 units or more, and 15 percent of falling
below 20 times your bet. At $25 a shot, you're talking $250 and
$500. Projections are slightly more optimistic if you bet only on
Banker and conversely on Player. But for two hours of action, Player-Banker
differences aren't enough to argue, let alone justify fist fights
in the aisles with nit-pickers who can cite the sixth decimal place.
A common mistake
made in predicting bankroll swings is to consider only where fortunes
are apt to be after a session of some stated duration. The reality
is that most solid citizens have loss limits and quit when they
scrape the bottom of either their fiscal or emotional barrels. Flat
betting on Banker or Player, the chance is about 60 percent of hitting
a 10-unit pain barrier before completing 250 rounds, and 28 percent
of dropping into a chasm 20 units deep prior to finishing this much
play.
Swings get wilder
for the same overall exposure when bettors vary their wagers. Say
that you press on a win, hoping to catch a run, up to a maximum
of four times. For instance, you might start at $10 and go to $25
then $50 and hold at $100 as long as your rabbit's foot does its
duty; you return to $10 whenever you lose. The average bet with
this progression would be a bit over $25.
Compared with
flat $25 bets, chances of finishing after two hours above $250 and
$500 using the progression increase from 20 to 28 and 7 to 15 percent,
respectively. Negative swings are also more radical, with the probabilities
of completing two-hour sessions worse than $250 and $500 in the
hole rising from 32 to 38 and 15 to 23 percent, respectively. The
likelihood of busting at $250 and $500 before completing 250 hands
with the hypothetical progression as opposed to the $25 equivalent
average flat bet goes up, too -- from 60 to 70 and 28 to 40 percent,
respectively.
In addition
to offering an opportunity for a long session at an elegant casino
classic on a modest bankroll, with a good shot at a small profit
and bets anyone can learn to make in a shake, baccarat has another
big plus. Snob appeal. You'll impress your friends by telling them
it's your game. To get the full effect, though, be sure to drop
the final "t" when you pronounce it. For, as Sumner A
Ingmark reminded readers of his remarkable rhymes:
To
raise yourself above the rabble,
Enunciate with proper babble
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