Baccarat Strategy Guide – Learn About the Top Baccarat Strategies

Now that you’re familiar with the basic differences between positive and negative progression, you can check out the most popular baccarat betting strategies. The strategies we cover below offer specific variations on positive or negative progression. If used wisely, they are some of the best baccarat strategies you can use in the game.

The Martingale Baccarat Strategy

The Martingale strategy is a simple take on negative progression. It’s popular in other casino games like craps or roulette, but can be used effectively as a baccarat strategy. When you use the Martingale strategy, you repeat your bet after a win and double it after a loss. The Martingale is fairly easy to follow.

1. Place a bet. For example, $5 on the Banker.

2. If the Banker won, simply repeat the bet. If the banker lost, you double your next bet to $10.

3. If you lose the $10, double the next wager to $20. On a win, you’d repeat the $10 bet for the next hand.

Here’s how the Martingale baccarat strategy works in practice:

Martingale can be a winning baccarat strategy, but it has some pros and cons. If you run up against a streak of losses, your bets could get quite high and you could use up your money quickly. On the other hand, multiple well-placed bets could net you a significant stack of chips. Martingale is great if you’re willing to place high bets after a few losses, so we recommend it mainly for high rollers.

The Paroli Baccarat Strategy

Paroli is a positive progression baccarat betting strategy. When you play using the Paroli strategy, you set an initial bet amount. You keep your bet the same after each loss, but when you win, you double your bet. Some Paroli players choose to double bets only after a certain number of wins (say, 3-5), but others double immediately after each win. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the Paroli:

1. Place your initial bet. For this example, let’s say $5 on the Player.

2. If you win that bet, double your next one to $10. On a loss, you would stick to $5 for your next wager.

You continue this pattern for as long as you wish to play. Here’s how this baccarat strategy works in practice:

The Paroli system offers a relatively low risk of big losses. However, its shortcoming is that wins are somewhat small unless you find yourself on a hot streak. As a result, it’s a good baccarat betting system for newcomers or risk-averse players.

The Fibonacci Baccarat Strategy

This negative progression system is based on the famous Fibonacci sequence from mathematics. The Fibonacci sequence adds each of the two previous numbers to get the next one in the pattern. In betting, it starts with ones and carries on like so: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89…and can continue forever.

It helps to think of your initial bet as a “unit” when using the Fibonacci baccarat betting strategy. For example, a $5 bet could be considered a unit. When you apply this strategy, you move up to the next number in the sequence after each loss. When you win, however, you move back two numbers. It sounds complex but it’s easier to understand in practice:

1. Bet 1 unit. In this example, $5.

2. If your bet loses, bet $5 again (remember, “1” repeats in the sequence).

3. If your bet loses, bet $10 (2 units).

4. After another loss, bet $15 (3 units).

5. If that $15 bet wins, move back two steps in the sequence and bet $5 again.

Here’s another example, this one using $1 as a unit. For the sake of this example, assume you’ve lost five hands already, and you are now betting $8.

Fibonacci can be one of the most fun baccarat gambling strategies because you are consistently changing your bet based on the outcome. After a win, you pull back a bit and place a more cautious bet, moving back up the sequence to recoup any losses. It’s a negative progression baccarat strategy, though, so it’s more suited to players willing to take risks. If you have limited funds, it may be best to look for alternatives such as Paroli to make your money last.

The Labouchere Baccarat Strategy

Labouchere is a popular negative progression bacarrat strategy. It’s one of the more complex strategies available, so we recommend it primarily for experienced players.

Labouchere has some similarities to the Martingale strategy in baccarat. Players use it to make up for losses. Rather than aiming for a single big win to offset any lost bets, however, Labouchere is geared toward a number of small wins. It’s intended to incrementally recoup losses over time instead of with one big win.

You start by writing down a sequence of numbers. This can be any sequence, but you will add these digits together, so limit yourself to the higher end of what you’re willing to bet. Your first bet should be the sum of the first and last numbers in the sequence. If you win on that bet, cross out those two numbers, then place another bet. This time your bet should equal the sum of the first and last remaining digits. If you lose your bet, you add another number to the end of the list. If you end up cycling through all your numbers, you write another sequence and start over. Here’s how Labouchere works:

1. Write your sequence. For this example, we’ll use 1-2-3-4-5-6.

2. Bet $7, the sum of 1 and 6. Cross out those numbers. Your sequence is now 2-3-4-5.

3. If you lose the $7 bet from Step 2, add a new number to your list. In this case, we’ll make it 6 again.

4. Your new sequence is 1-2-3-4-5-6-6. Because the 1 and original 6 were crossed out, your next bet is $8, totaling 6 and 2.

In practice, a Labouchere progression strategy looks like this:

Labouchere is complex and has near-infinite permutations depending on the sequence you want to use. Due to its high-risk, high-reward focus, we recommend it for experienced players or high rollers. New players may find it difficult to keep up, but Labouchere is a great baccarat betting strategy to work toward.

Flat Betting Baccarat Strategy

The flat betting baccarat strategy is separate from positive and negative progression systems. Rather than increasing or decreasing your bet based on wins and losses, you simply bet the same amount on every hand. It’s very simple in practice:

1. Bet $10.

2. Regardless of the outcome, bet $10 on the next hand.

As you can see in the table below, flat betting doesn’t change based on the outcome of any given hand:

Flat betting in baccarat is simple and effective. It won’t recoup losses with big wins, but it’s also less risky than some of the other betting strategies outlined above. Because of this, we recommend it for beginners, especially if you’re still learning how to play baccarat.

Card counting is the process of tracking which cards have been dealt over the course of multiple hands to increase your chances of placing a winning bet. It’s a popular strategy for blackjack, and some believe it can be applied to baccarat as well.

When done correctly, counting cards in baccarat can help you select the most profitable bet and reduce the house edge. However, the advantage is very slim and card counting in baccarat is only marginally profitable.

Baccarat card counting is viable at a land-based casino or in a live dealer casino game. It won’t work in an online casino, as there is no shoe and the system can shuffle the cards at any point.

Card counting is still a useful skill to have and can help you hone your baccarat winning strategy. If you want to learn the basics, you can review our easy baccarat card counting guide below.

How to Count Cards in Baccarat

First, find a baccarat table with a freshly loaded shoe. This will give you a clean slate and help you get used to the cadence of baccarat card counting.

When a card is dealt (whether it’s to you, the Banker, or another Player), you add or subtract to your “count” depending on the card’s value. Your “count” is simply a number that helps you determine which bet to place on the next hand. Here are the card values that will help you get started:

• Ace, 2, or 3: +1

• 4: +2

• 5, 7, or 8: -1

• 10, Jack, Queen, or King: 0 (neutral)

Naturally, the count will increase or decrease over time based on the cards being dealt. The total of your count helps you decide which bet to place. On a count of +16 or higher, you wager on the Player hand. At +15 or lower, bet the Banker.

When you break down this baccarat strategy step by step, the process is quite simple:

Tally your count using the value above as a hand is played. If you’re playing with a Banker and one other player, it could look like this:

• Your hand: Ace, 7 (total: 0)

• Other Player hand: 4, 2 (total: 3)

• Banker hand: Jack, 4: (total: 2)

The count now totals +5, so you bet on the Banker for the next hand.

Card counting in baccarat reduces the house edge by a small margin when done correctly. As cards are removed from the shoe, they make it more likely for either the Player or Banker bet to win. If you can do it well, card counting can give you a small advantage in baccarat.

Now that you’re familiar with baccarat strategy, the VSO team has a few final tips to help you perfect your approach to this popular table game.

• Avoid Looking For Patterns

  Baccarat is a game of chance and the cards (whether physical or virtual) are shuffled randomly. Patterns may seem enticing, but they can be misleading. Instead of seeking out patterns, focus on making smart bets as you play baccarat.

• Find Games With Lower Commissions

  The house usually takes a 5% commission when you win on the banker bet. If you can find a game with a lower commission, your wins will pay more. Some casinos may also offer no commission baccarat.

• Go For Tables With Fewer Decks

  Most baccarat tables will use 6 or 8 decks. In this case, fewer is better. You can count cards more easily with fewer decks, and the house edge is slightly diminished in baccarat when the number of decks is smaller.

• Start With Mini Baccarat

  Baccarat exists in multiple formats. For new players, mini baccarat is an excellent first step. It’s friendly to newcomers and the dealer runs the game—you don’t even need to touch your cards. Big baccarat and midi baccarat are more complex. However, once you’re familiar with mini, you can move up to the other formats.