Baccarat is a fun, social game and one which is easy to play and understand. The game holds some of the best odds in the casino for a player so make sure you know how to take advantage of those odds.

You can bet Banker, Player, or Tie. You also have the option of betting a tie bet with the Banker or Player bets. That’s the only decision you make until the hand is dealt. Chips are then won or lost and you then bet again.

The game of baccarat can be played with a table full of players or by yourself. The nice thing about baccarat is with so many players strategically playing their hands, you have the opportunity to sit out and think about your next move or jump in and play every hand.

When playing alone, some casinos allow you to play both sides of the table if you are trying to watch for runs and are using charts to find patterns. If a casino refuses to let you play both sides of the table, then don’t play alone until another player joins the game.

Secondly, baccarat is a game where there are significant runs, for example the banker runs with eight banker winning hands and then the player side runs with eight player winning hands or something that can be easily seen when you are charting the plays accurately on your Baccarat Card.

The other side of a “run” is a little thing known as the “chop” and when the cards are choppy, it is safe to assume you do not want to be playing the game by yourself.

When a chop appears, it is very hard to determine what card is supposed to fall where when you look at your card or chart. When it occurs, you may have a series of banker and player wins scattered and in no particular pattern.

If you are playing a chop, you can lose a lot of money fast. If you are playing by yourself, without the luxury of sitting out a few hands at your leisure, this game can eat up even the heftiest of bankrolls.

The best rule of thumb is to never play by yourself at all unless the casino will allow you to play both sides of the table until you have someone else join the table.

By David Walker
The best rule of thumb is to never play by yourself until you have someone else join the game unless the casino will allow you to play both sides of the table.