In 2026, with online casinos becoming more and more popular, this is no longer the case. When playing online, the minimum bet is much lower, opening the game up to far more players than before. Our in-depth Baccarat Strategy guide will give new players some expert time and help them play like pros in no time.
Types of Baccarat Bets
When we start to look at Baccarat Strategy, the first and most important thing for players to do is become familiar with the bets that are available to them. There are three basic bets in Baccarat, and players need to learn and understand the odds and payouts for each of these three bets. If you make the right bet, Baccarat has one of the lowest house edges around.
Banker Bet
Unlike most other casino games, you do not have to bet on yourself to win. In Baccarat, you can bet on the Banker’s hand to win. This bet has a house edge of just 1.06% and pays out 1:1. If you win with a Bankers Bet, there will be a small commission you have to pay to the casino, normally around 5%. This is the best bet to make, as it has the best odds of winning.
Player Bet
If you don’t want to bet on the Banker, you can bet that your hand will win. Known as a Player Bet, it has slightly worse odds of winning, with a house edge of 1.24%. It pays out the same, at 1:1, but no commission needs to be paid. This is the second-best bet to make in Baccarat.
Tie Bet
Finally, we have the Tie Bet. Players are often tempted to place this bet, as it pays out 8:1 or 9:1, depending on the casino. However, the odds of winning a Tie Bet are terrible, with a house edge of 14.36%. While you canbe occasionally place this bet to see what happens, we generally recommend avoiding the Tie Bet at all costs.
Top Baccarat Strategy Tips
Baccarat is a game of luck, so there is no strategy that players can use to improve their chances of winning. However, we have some tips that players can use to have a better experience. We also have some betting strategies you can use, which we will go through after the tips.
- Banker Bets – We highly recommend sticking to placing Banker Bets. This is the only thing you can do to improve your chances of winning. The banker bet carries a lower house edge than the player bet.
- Avoid Tie Bet – While the Tie Bet pays out a lot if you win, 8:1 or 9:1, this result is very rare. While the Banker and Player bet both have a house edge of less than 1.5%, the Tie Bet gives the house a massive 14.36% advantage.
- Ignore Past Results – Many Baccarat games will have a board that displays the results from the last few rounds. We recommend ignoring this as much as possible. Each round is independent of the previous round. If Banker won 5 rounds in a row, it does not mean the Player Bet is more likely to win the next round. This is known as the Gambler’s Fallacy.
- Stay Away from Mini Baccarat – Mini Baccarat plays by the same rules as regular Baccarat, but the hands happen much faster. This means that you can lose a lot of money quickly if luck is not on your side.
- Manage your Money – It is important to manage your bankroll, have a safe budget that you can afford to lose, and place appropriately sized wagers.
Baccarat Betting Strategies
Next up, let’s look at some Baccarat Betting strategies that players can use. Some people believe that the point of a betting strategy is to lower the house edge and improve your chances of winning. This is not the case, as the odds of winning remain unchanged. The actual point is to help players make good betting decisions to try to make the player’s bankroll last longer and get more rounds played.
The hope is that Lady Luck will smile upon the player during that time. Below we have outlined some of the most popular betting strategies often used by Baccarat players. We will break these up into Positive Progressive Strategies and then Negative Betting Strategies.
Positive Progressive Betting Strategies
In a Positive Progressive Betting Strategies, players will be required to increase their bet following a win and reset after a loss. Below are the most popular Baccarat Positive Progressive Betting Strategies.
- Paroli – When using the Paroli Betting System in Baccarat, you will pick your base bet amount. After a win, you will double your bet. So, if you start at $10, you will then bet $20 if you win and then $40 after the next win. You will reset back to the base $10 bet after a loss or after three consecutive wins. This stops the bet amounts from getting too high.
- Parlay – With the Parlay Betting system, after a win, you increase your bet by the amount you won in the previous round. Because Baccarat mostly has 1:1 payouts, you will essentially just double your bet after each win. This makes it similar to the Paroli system, but the difference is there is no reset to base bet after X number of wins. Players will need to decide for themselves when they rest to the base bet. If your bet increases too much, one loss can wipe out all your winnings.
Negative Progressive Betting Strategy
A Negative Progressive Betting Strategy is the opposite of the Positive. This means that after a win, you reset back to your base bet, but you increase your bets after losing a round. The most popular Negative Progressive Betting Strategy for Baccarat include the following:
- Martingale – One of the better-known betting strategies, the Martingale has players double their bet after each loss. The idea is that after several losses, you will win back all your lost bets, plus your original wager. The issue with this strategy is that a losing streak will see your bet need to increase exponentially. If your base is $1 and you lose, it will need to go to $2, $4, $8, $16, $32, $64, etc. It doesn’t take too many losses to require large bets.
- D’Almbert – With the D’Almbert strategy, you increase your wager by your base amount on every loss. If you start at $2 when you lose, you bet $4. If you lose again, it is then $6. This means your bets increase incrementally rather than exponentially. This limits the risk of the required bet getting so large your bankroll can’t cover it.
- Fibonacci – With this betting system, it follows the Fibonacci Mathematical pattern. In this sequence, your current bet would be made up of the sum of your previous two bets. So if you start with $5, then you will bet $5 again ($5 +$0). The next bet would be $10 ($5+$5), $15 (10+5), $25 (15+10), and so on.
Flat Betting Strategy
We would like to suggest one last betting strategy to our readers. This is known as the Flat Betting Strategy. As the name suggests, pick your bet, and then stick with it, whether you win or lose. If you decide to bet $5, you will stick to that bet for the following rounds no matter what the result is.
While this might sound boring, it is one of the smartest betting strategies you can use for Baccarat. Over the long run, this is likely to be the best performing Baccarat Betting Strategy.
Baccarat Strategy FAQs
What is the Best Strategy for Online Baccarat?
Baccarat is a game of luck, and player skill does not influence the results. However, there are some betting strategies that could potentially help improve a player’s experience. Our recommendation is to stick to the Banker Bet as much as possible and use the Flat Betting strategy. This should give you the best chance of making some money.
Is Baccarat all luck, or does Strategy and Skill make a difference?
Baccarat is all luck. The only thing you can do to improve your odds of winning is to choose the bets that give you the best odds of winning. In Baccarat, the Banker Bet gives you the best odds of winning, with Player bet offer slightly worse odds. While the payout for the Tie Bet is attractive, the odds of winning are slim.
How do I win every round in Baccarat?
There is no way to guarantee you win every hand when playing Baccarat or any casino game. The best thing you can do is place Banker bets, as this gives you the best chance. However, even then, you will not win every single hand. In the long run, this bet should give you the most wins