online baccarat question

**tennis_balls** · 17th December 2006, 11:56 AM

i'm new to baccarat

it always seemed like a dumb game to me. after reading about its small house-edge, I finally gave it a try and now I rather enjoy it.

the only thing I don't get is the house edge. does the banker hand really have that big of an advantage over the player hand that it's a slightly better play even with the 5% commission?

**tencardcharlie** · 17th December 2006, 01:25 PM

does the banker hand really have that big of an advantage over the player hand that it's a slightly better play even with the 5% commission?

Yes, it does.

**Tagdog** · 17th December 2006, 01:59 PM

if you want to play bacaract kismit leisure casinos (eg Harrods) have 4% commission instead of 5%

**aka23** · 18th December 2006, 08:08 AM

Originally Posted by tennis_balls

does the banker hand really have that big of an advantage over the player hand that it's a slightly better play even with the 5% commission?

There is little difference in the house edge between the player and banker bet. If you have a superstition about player or banker hitting, then choose whichever one you want.

The banker has a 45.9% chance of winning, and the player has a 44.6% chance of winning (9% ties). This makes the house edge on the banker bet .459*.95 -.446 = ~1.0%. And the house edge on the player bet .446 - .459 = ~1.3%

Note that Real Time Gaming casinos round down the commission to multiples of 0.25, so if you are not betting a multiple of 5, then the player bet may have the lowest house edge. For example a $1 bet has a 25 cent commission. This makes the house edge on banker bet .459*.75 -.446 = ~10.2%! While the player bet still has a house edge of 1.3%.