Which Baccarat Betting Strategy is the Best For You?

Baccarat used to be a game only high rollers played but nowadays it is at most online casinos and available in low stakes and the more traditional high stakes. However, is there a way to beat the casino at this classic table game or a Baccarat betting strategy that can help you enjoy more success?

Whether a strategy can bring you success is debatable in the long-term but there are several well-known Baccarat betting strategies that players still use. Dating back decades and even centuries, professional gamblers designed these common strategies to maximise your chances at the Baccarat tables.

Here’s what we will cover in this guide:

The Martingale Baccarat Betting Strategy

The Martingale is a betting system that is used by punters on various casino games that offer evens bets (or as close to evens as you can get). Think Roulette and Craps. In fact, we already have a comprehensive roulette betting guide that covers the Martingale strategy here.

It uses a negative progression that will theoretically ensure that eventually, you will walk away a winner even if you have suffered a series of losses.

Basically, the idea is that you keep wagering the same amount until you lose at which point you double your wager. So, let’s assume you play one wager of $/€5 and lose, the next wager will be $/€10, lose again and the third will be $/€20. Win the third and you recoup all previous losses and are actually $/€5 in the green.

It is best to start with the minimum wager possible at a table as a series of losses will require you to double each time. 8 straight losses of $/€5, $/€10, $/€20, $/€40, $/€50, $/€100, $/€200, and$/€400 would require a 9th wager of $/€800, so you can see how there is the potential for things to get out of hand.

One of the disadvantages to this strategy is that you could end up unwittingly reaching the table maximum bet which would then require you to look for higher stakes tables. And if you want to play high stakes tables, you need to make sure you have the desired minimum bet amount.

The Pros and Cons of the Martingale Strategy

The last 2 paragraphs should give you hints on where the possible disadvantages of this strategy are. Obviously, you need a deep bankroll and a lot of courage to continue after a series of losses.

Additionally, once you hit the max bet limit at the table, the strategy falls over. Essentially, you either run out of money or the table limits get you. That said, the law of averages suggests you are just as likely to suffer a series of losses as you are a series of wins. So there is a chance that you get through a session in a decent profit.

We suggest using this strategy for shorter sessions and setting yourself a max number of bets just to safeguard against things getting out of hand.

The Paroli Baccarat Betting Strategy

While the Martingale uses a negative progression strategy, the Paroli does the complete opposite and uses a positive progression strategy. This involves doubling your wager after every win rather than every loss. The idea is that you are banking on a string of wins to provide your profit.

We also covered the Paroli strategy in depth for roulette in our series of roulette strategy guides.

Again, start with the lowest possible stake and begin betting on an evens bet. After a loss, you play the same stake and this continues until you win. At this point, double your wager, if you win double it again but if you lose go back to your original fixed stake.

Unlike the Martingale strategy, when you double after every win, you are gambling with the house money rather than your own. A loss is not coming from your pocket, just the wins you previously recorded.

The Pros and Cons of the Paroli Betting Strategy

The fact that it will not require you to place huge wagers after a losing streak is a key benefit to this strategy. Unlike the Martingale, you double your wager after a win rather than vice versa, so a string of losses will not need a huge bet to try to claim back those losses. It also negates the possibility of table limits catching up with you.

As for the negatives, depending on the hand limits you set yourself, it only takes one loss to wipe out all your profits. You could win 3 hands in a row essentially doubling your returns each time just to lose all winnings and your original stake on the 4th hand.

This is why regular users of this strategy implement stop limits to lower the risk. They may revert back to the original low stake after three successive wins.

The Fibonacci Baccarat Betting Strategy

This is the most complicated of the Baccarat betting symbols we will talk about but still fairly straightforward once you know what you are doing. It is another negative progression betting system but one that rather than doubling your bet after a loss, increasing it at a lower rate.

The system uses a sequence of numbers which represent your betting units. After a loss, you basically increase your bet to match the total of your previous two bets. That sequence is 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, and so on.

  • Lose the first 1 unit bet, bet 1 unit again.
  • Lose again, raise it to 2 units (1+1)
  • Lose again, raise it to 3 units (2+1)
  • Lose again, raise it to 5 units (3+2)
  • Lose again, raise it to 8 units (5+3)
  • Rinse and repeat until you win

After winning, you bet what you bet ‘two bets’ ago and reset back to your first bet no matter the result. The idea is that going back ‘two bets’ after winning, you will have still recouped all previous wagers and in some cases, made a small profit even if you lose. Of course, win, you are well in the profit but bank that and revert to the first bet to start the system again.

The Pros and Cons of the Fibonacci Betting Strategy

The Fibonacci is not as easy to understand as the others but if you write down the betting sequence for each consecutive loss, and remember to go back two bets after a win, it will become second nature, eventually. The other benefit is that you do not risk all your winnings after breaking a losing streak. You recoup your losses and just play one hand using your profits only. No matter the result of that hand, you have lost nothing.

The negatives with this strategy are the same, if not as quick to materialise, as the negatives with the Martingale. A streak of losses can lead to losing all your money or reaching the table limit which in both cases means you have lost, and the casino has won.

The Baccarat Flat Betting Strategy

The strategies explained above all use what is known as a ‘progressive’ system which involves either increasing or decreasing your bet after a win or loss depending on the particular rules of each system.

A flat betting strategy works differently as the bet always stays the same no matter the result of the previous hand. If you lose, the bet stays the same and if you win, the bet also stays the same.

That makes the flat Baccarat betting system one that carries a low risk in comparison to others. You will not lose huge sums of money during a long session. On the flip side, you are unlikely to win huge sums either.

You can use it for any of the three bets in the game but we recommend you use the ‘Banker’ bet despite offering a return of 19/20 (95%) of your stake. This is because statistically, the ‘Banker’ bet will win more often.

  • Bet ‘X’ amount
  • Win, bet the same amount
  • Lose, bet the same amount

Stick to a predetermined number of hands or implement stop limits such as X amount of profit or X amount of losses. This prevents you from chasing losses when luck is against you.

Pros and Cons of a Flat Betting Strategy

It is one of the most common Baccarat strategies as it is low risk and is simple to put in practice. Anyone can pick up a betting strategy that involves doing the same bet over and over. As for negatives, it is a slow strategy that will not generate the chance of big wins that some of the others do. That said, that could also work as a positive as it also negates the chance of big losses.

Which Baccarat Strategy Works the Best?

This depends on your own preferences as none will guarantee success or work as a full proof plan to beat the bank.

Baccarat is a game that will always favour the house just like any other casino table game and no matter which strategy you put in place, the game designed to work in favour of the house. Results are random, so whatever strategy you use, you are still relying on luck being on your side.

In the end, which strategy you choose will come down to how much risk you are willing to take at the Baccarat table.

If there was definitive strategy to choose, then the flat betting strategy offers the lowest risk as you are not increasing your bets at all. As for the Martingale, this carries the most risk as a string of losses can get expensive and too expensive for the table limits which could leave you with huge losses.

The Paroli negates a lot of the risk of gambling on a baccarat table. That said, it can cause frustration because a string of wins could easily see the profits made demise due to a single lost hand.

Finally, you have the Fibonacci which is a slightly less aggressive and risky version of the Martingale. It is a safe system, it won’t help you win huge amounts, but it can help you bet in a more controlled manner so you can extend the amount of time at the tables.

It is a great strategy if you have a casino bonus that allows you to bet on baccarat tables as you have a higher chance or playing through the wagering requirements, but even then you will need to make sure the maximum bet for bonus bets is reasonably high.

Just remember that whichever strategy you choose, always go for the ‘Banker’ bet for the best chance of success. It wins more often despite only returning 19/20 (95%). Also, make sure you check out our ‘How to Play Baccarat Online‘ guide where you will not only learn the ins and outs of Baccarat but you will also learn what the RTP/house edge is for different baccarat tables.

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