There are many variants of baccarat at land casinos, such as Chemin de Fer and Baccarat Banque, but the online versions are based on Punto Banco. Online baccarat is a simple and fast paced game, but one that offers extremely high average returns. We list below the Australian online casinos that offer the best games in baccarat.
The first thing that you have to understand in online baccarat is the valuation of the hand. The cards from 2 to 9 are valued at their face value. 10s and the face cards have a value of 0. Aces have a value of 1. The hand value is computed by adding the values of all the cards and then dropping the tens digit. Hence the highest hand value is 9 and the lowest hand value is 0. The hand with the higher hand value wins. In online baccarat cards are dealt to the Player hand and to the Banker hand and you have to bet on which hand will win. You can also bet on the event that both hands tie. Punto stands for Player and Banco stands for Banker in the land casino version of this game.
After you place your bet the dealing of cards takes place. The Player hand and the Banker hand are first each dealt two cards and then a third card may be dealt depending on up the value of the first two cards. The rules for dealing the third card are somewhat complex. In online baccarat you need not known these rules because the software automatically takes them into account while dealing the cards. The final hand value of the Player and Banker are displayed. The one with the greater hand value wins.
Losing bets are removed from the table. If you have bet on the Player hand and this hand has won, then you are paid even money with a 5% commission deducted from your winnings. If you have bet on the Banker hand and this hand has won, then you are paid even money. If you have bet on a Tie and both hands have the same value, then you are usually paid 8 to 1.
Optimum online baccarat strategy takes into account the above payouts along with the probabilities of each of the events occurring. The Player hand has a 44.6% probability of winning. With a payout of even money it offers a house edge of 1.24%. The Banker hand has a 45.9% probability of winning. With a payout of even money less the commission it offers a house edge of 1.06%. The Tie bet has a 9.5% probability of winning. With a payout of 8 to 1 it offers a house edge of 14.34%. Therefore the optimum strategy is to always bet on the Banker hand.
Microgaming offers a number of online baccarat variants such as Baccarat, Baccarat Gold Series and High Limit Baccarat. But if you are an Australian player at Microgaming online casino the game you should head for is Baccarat Gold. This online baccarat variant has more bets and features and fantastic animations that recreate the rituals at a real casino baccarat table.
The new bets are the Banker and Player Pair bets. These bets win if the hand you bet on is dealt a pair as the first two cards. The payout is 11 to 1. The first two cards are dealt face down. You can rotate these cards just like players do at real casinos, peek at them and then flip them over. Though this ritual does not add anything to the payout value, it makes the online baccarat game more interactive and therefore more interesting. Many baccarat players like to use various techniques to try and predict the outcome of the next deal. Even though it is known that the deals are independent of past history, such endeavours add to the fun of wagering. Microgaming Baccarat Gold features four roadmaps that are used at some land casinos to track patterns. These are Big Road, Big Eye Road, Small Road and Cockroach Road.
Playtech Baccarat does not have the visual appeal of the Microgaming Baccarat Gold, but offers some other advantages. The minimum limit for the Player and Banker bets is only $0.10. The bets can be increased in steps of $0.10. This is great for low rollers. However the commission of 5% on the Banker bet is rounded off to the nearest $0.01 in the casino’s favour. Hence you are likely to lose in the smaller wagers where exact calculation is not possible. The maximum limit for the Banker and Player bets is $300. The side bets have a bet range from $1 to $5.
There are more side bets in Playtech Baccarat. Apart from the standard Player and Banker Pair bets, there is an Either Pair bet that wins if either the Player or the Banker is dealt a pair. This pays out at 5 to 1. The Perfect Pair bet wins if either the Player or the Banker is dealt a pair of the same suit. This pays out at 25 to 1. The Small Bet wins if only four cards are dealt in all and pays at 1.5 to 1. The big Bet wins if five or six cards are dealt in all and pays at 0.54 to 1.
