Banker Bet – The Best Wager You Can Make Playing Baccarat

Banker Bet Isn’t Always the Best Bet in Baccarat

You probably know the game of baccarat as being the favourite of James Bond. You probably also know that there are really only three bets to be made, the player bet, the banker bet and the tie bet. When it comes to betting and strategy, then you only have 3 choices:

• Wager on the player hand winning
• Bet on the banker hand winning
• Bet on both hands tying

To answer the question of which represents the best bet, well, that’s easy. Simply put, you should always bet on the banker’s hand winning. You don’t have to worry about strategy or anything else. Having said that, there is one bet that you really shouldn’t make. Read on and we’ll tell you what it is.

Why The Banker Bet?

Simply put, the banker bet has a stronger odds of winning. Providing you gamble with the banker bet then you’ll always have an advantage over the house edge. Remember that the casino is not going to simply give up the house edge for you. So instead they charge you a 5% commission out of your winnings if you bet on the banker’s hand. See how the casino always wins?  The minute there’s any advantage to the player, then the casino has a sneaky plan to nullify it. At first, you think this amount is outrageous. But if you drill down into the maths, you’ll see that with this commission you’re actually facing a 1.06% house edge on the banker bet. This actually makes it one of the best wagers, not just in baccarat, but in the whole casino.

When you’re visiting casinos to win the jackpot, then the only games you can get a better long-term expectations are with blackjack and with certain video jackpot poker games. We should say that if you wager on the player’s hand it’s not such a bad proposition either.  This carries a house edge of 1.24%. Now if you want to liven up your evening, you could simply switch back and forth between the player and the banker bets. When it comes to the tie bet, well, you should totally avoid it at all costs. The house edge for this stands at 14.36%. Gulp!  That’s with an 8 to 1 payout. With a 9 to 1 payout, the house edge dropped down to 4.84%. But this is still 4 times as high as both the other bets when it comes to the house edge.

Commissions on The Banker Bet

Unfortunately, whatever baccarat type you are playing, you will still need to pay the 5% commission if the banker’s hand wins. Having said that, some casinos may even require a minimum commission. Once again, there will be some clever mathematics in play here, which will give the player the impression that the commissions are much smaller than they really are. For example, a $1 commission can be represented by a dollar amount. So with this, you’ll have to pay a commission of at least $1 per hand.

In the beginning, you may think this looks cheap. But the casino is a business and it’s there to take your money. So, for example, if you’re at a table where the minimum bet is $5 per hour, and there’s a 1% commission, this represents 20% of your winnings. If you’re wagering at least $10, then the commission will come to 10%.

Here’s an example to show how bad these higher commissions are if you’re a low stakes player:

• You bet $10 on the banker bet.
• The commission on your winnings is 10%.
• This scenario bumps up the house edge to 3.35% on banker bets.
• 35 / 1.06 = 3.16
• Now you’re looking at a house edge that’s 3.16x more than normal.
• But there’s no need to worry about the $1 minimum commissions if you’re betting $20 or higher. Keep in mind that a dollar is just 5% of $20.

Why Casinos Charge High Minimum Commissions

One thing that’s pretty obvious is that running a brick-and-mortar casino is incredibly expensive. Table games are looked after by the dealers and casinos tend to pay them a minimum wage. The rest of that salary is made up of customer tips. Obviously, baccarat games can’t run themselves like slot machines. So charging a $1 minimum commission on the baccarat banker bet is one method to make the casino more money. If you’re a low stakes player then this could very well end up hurting you. but if you want to stick with low stakes baccarat, then head over to 22Bet Casino. The minimum table limits start at just £1. Not only that, but they also offer all new players a great welcome bonus of 122% up to £300!

What To Do When You See Minimum Commissions

When you see a $1 minimum commission table, then you have a number of options available to you. We’ve listed the best of them below.

Run Away

Remember when you’re in a casino that you don’t have to play any of their games. Or you can simply choose another game or another gaming table.  You don’t necessarily have to take what’s on offer. This applies to all games that are subject to a dollar commission.  We suggest you should avoid these tables. Unless you’re going to bet with more than $10 per hand.

Look for Better Tables

As with the above advice, you can choose to stick around and search for a better baccarat table or simply leave the casino. Keep in mind that the odds are that if the casino is offering a $1 commission, then it will be the same across all table games in that establishment. Finding a good table should be one part of your jackpot winning strategies whenever you visit a casino.

Stay and Make the Player Bet

As we previously mentioned, the player bet comes with a house edge of just 1.24%. If you were betting $10 or less, then you’re better off to wager it on the player. Of course, you could look for another casino or playing table with a better bet on the banker. But we suggest you stick with the baccarat player wager, as this is still a worthwhile bet. Remember that it still comes with a very low house edge.

Bet Larger Wagers

We understand that you’re probably not a high roller. But keep in mind that because the $1 banker bet minimum commission is in place, it means that this will negatively affect low stakes players more than those betting higher stakes. So if you play with $10 a hand, then you’ll face a 3.35% house edge. Now if you’re prepared to raise your bets to at least $20, then the minimum commission will have no effect on the house edge, and this will help increase your jackpot winning chances.

Play At Online Casino Baccarat

Playing baccarat at online casinos makes absolute sense. For one thing, there will be some fantastic bonuses, including welcome bonuses and other incentives offered to you when you sign up as a new player. Secondly, there’s no need to worry about any $1 commissions. Online entities have lower running costs and I’m not looking at ways of fleecing their customers. On nearly all online casino game sites you’ll find that the minimum betting limit is less than $1 per hand. A fantastic place to play baccarat online is 22Bet Casino. They have a live dealer baccarat game that just feels like a real casino. 

Conclusion: The Banker Bet 

In many ways, it’s not really the fault of the casino that they have such high commissions on their low stakes baccarat table. This allows them to profit off low limit players, which of course, make up the majority of their clientele. Judging by some of the profits these casino companies make, they could simply pay their dealers more. Instead of pretending they need to raise commissions in order to cover their cost. We suggest that you don’t play for long periods and be sure to continuously bet either $5 or $10 per hand. This will only help you by increasing the house edge by quite a large amount.

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