There are lots of so-called experts who claim to have a system that will beat the house, if you give them $39.95. We know that betting on the Player gives the house an edge of 1.29%. We also know that betting on the Dealer gives the house a 1.01% edge. If you think betting on a tie is a good idea, the house edge on that bet is a whooping 15.75% edge, and is not a good bet.

That means if you only bet on the Dealer’s hand you will lose less money over time than betting on the Player’s hand each time. But it doesn’t matter which you bet on or how much; you will lose if you continue to play long enough. There will be times when you’ll be ahead a few bets and can walk away up some cash, and that’s the only successful system there is.

Playing baccarat properly is simple. There are tons of betting systems out there that preach proper money management, like using progressive betting after you win. I don’t think that these systems are beneficial in any consistent manner; they will work periodically.

The truth is that the only real edge you can get in baccarat is to bet on the Banker every hand. This isn’t exactly a fun way to play the game, but you get to take advantage of the natural house edge the game has. Online baccarat commissions are smaller than land-based casino games, so that’s an additional edge.

The rule of thumb for baccarat money management is to bring at least 30 times the bet you plan on making. That should cover losing streaks when the Player will win, and you can decide to leave after a streak of Banker wins gets you ahead a few bets.

If you’re looking for good baccarat action in Sin City you want to go to places that attract Asian players. Baccarat is the favorite game of the Asian high roller. Caesars Palace Fortune Gaming Pavilion is the baccarat Mecca in Vegas. There are over a dozen tables at various stakes and the Pavilion is decorated with ornate Asian themes.

There are currently 17 casinos in town that offer the game:

-   Aladdin Resort & Casino
-   Bally’s - Las Vegas
-   Bellagio
-   Caesars Palace
-   Flamingo Las Vegas
-   Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
-   Las Vegas Hilton
-   Luxor Hotel and Casino
-   Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino
-   MGM Grand Hotel Casino
-   The Mirage
-   Monte Carlo Resort and Casino
-   Palms Casino Resort
-   Paris Las Vegas Casino Resort
-   Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
-   Stardust Resort and Casino
-   Venetian Resort Hotel Casino

Hand evaluation is simple enough once you understand what’s going on. The object of the game is to get as close to nine as possible without going over. In order to achieve that, the hand evaluation is a bit different than you might be used to.

All the cards 2-9 have their face value. Face cards and tens have a value of zero. When the total of the cards exceeds ten, the first digit is dropped. That means if get dealt a 5 and a 7 your total is 2 (5+7=12=2). The first number is dropped because the number cannot exceed 10.

Hands adding up to 10 are given a value of zero and are the worst hands you can get. This hand is called a “baccarat”, which means the game is named after the worst hand. If you score a nine it’s the best hand that you can get.

If you’re looking to get better at the game of baccarat there are a couple of really good sources. At  http://www.grandbaccarat.com/ you can get a free online baccarat guide. The info on this site covers anything you might want or need to know about the game.

Something similar can be found at  http://www.baccaratnet.com/ where they offer game history, a catalogue of games and other info sites. There’s also a list of all the online casinos that have baccarat available.  http://www.baccarat-tips.co.uk/ offers tips on playing strategy for the new “Be the dealer” variations of the game.

If you go to  http://www.game-culture.com/baccarat/casino_baccarat_tips.html there’s a list of 17 baccarat tips to help the novice player. There’s also a list of other game tactics linked off this site.

At  http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/how-to-play-baccarat.htm there are two full pages on every topic concerning baccarat. It covers how to play the tie bets and even covers etiquette issues.