The original version of Baccarat is played by a select few people who have the skill level (and bankroll) necessary. If you’ve played the game of baccarat in small casinos, you’re most likely playing mini-baccarat. The full version is usually reserved for six-figure players and higher. So what the heck is the difference? Actually, nothing much at all. The big version is a little slower and allows players to do different things. But, the game and decisions are the same.

For simplicity’s sake, we’ll just call the game Baccarat like everyone else. Actually, this is one game that allows players to play and win without knowing anything. We’ll go over the game quickly in a moment, but let’s just say that as a player, you don’t really have to think much. I love the game, because I can just kick back and let the dealer do all the work. The game has a degree of suspense.

Wagering

Mini-Baccarat has three wager points. As a player, you can pick up to two of them per game. The three wager areas are the Player, the Banker and Ties. With each hand you’ll pick either the Banker or the Player. If you think the hand will end in a tie, you can bet that too. Also, you can just bet the Tie if you want, but that’s pretty pointless, since ties are rare.

Both the Player and Banker bets are paid even money. There’s one catch. Wins on the Banker are taxed (vig) 5%, because the Banker has a slight edge. Tie winning wagers are paid 9 to 1.

House Edge – Low

Here’s the best reason for learning Mini-Baccarat. The house advantage is very low. In fact, it’s the lowest of any casino game. The lower the better. Unlike some guys, which can have house edges of 14% or higher, the house edge on Banker bets is only 1.06% and 1.24% on Player bets.

However, don’t get excited about the Tie bet. The house edge there is through the roof. Personally, I never bother with this bet. Why give away 14.35% of your money? By the way, some Baccarat games offer a 4% commission on winning Banker’s bets. That’s golden, because it lowers the house edge to just 0.60%. It’s very nice.

Playing the Game

Mini-Baccarat is a simple game that’s 100% controlled by a dealer. You don’t interact with the game at all, aside from placing wagers. The game uses multiple decks from a shoe (4+ decks).

At the conclusion of the game, the dealer takes all losing wagers and pays winning ones. All commissions are added. Some places require you to pay as you go, others let you accumulate it for a bit.

I agree with most of this.

There's a very easy way to think of probabilties at baccarat tables online and in the real world. It's a very conservative system. The idea for the system is pretty simple. Let’s think about a coin for a moment. One side is heads and the other is tails. Technically, each side has a 50% probability of showing up if you flipped it.

Now, imagine you flipped the coin twice. Would it always be one heads and one tails? Of course not.

That said, the concept is the same. You may have a series of “heads” come up, but at some point “tails” will come up. And while on each flip the probability (50%) doesn’t change, the running probability does. With each flip of heads, the probability that the next flip will be heads goes down—drastically.

As far as other tips, know that emotions can kill even the best baccarat or mini-baccarat player. Do your best to keep emotions out of your baccarat play. Yes, even good emotions can harm your baccarat bankroll. When a player goes wild, he or she is angry and will do stupid things. It’s cash suicide.

When you win, when playing mini-baccarat or baccarat always be happy, but calm. When you lose, just analyze what you did wrong (if anything), learn and move on. You can’t change the past and you can surely screw the future.

What about kissing my (steel, on/off) balls.