A.P Heat

The intention of this post is to put the gaming mathematicians out of business. Not really. But I do want to tell you how you can easily figure out the house edge for baccarat, its variants and most of its side bets. You can do this without needing a computer program or fancy spread sheet analysis. All you need to know is one advanced Excel function, “sumifs”.

Baccarat card counting is a hopeless endeavor. That doesn't mean that I can't develop better card counting systems or run more accurate simulations than I have in the past.

One of my long time clients knows a lot about California card rooms (see this post and this post

Earlier this week I met at length with executives from one of the corporations that back wagers in California card rooms.  In anticipation of these meetings, I wrote this blog article.

(flim′flam′) noun 1. nonsense; rubbish; humbug (ref. Webster's New World Dictionary)

California has two types of entities that offer casino table games. There are the Native American casinos that operate Las Vegas-style games. The gambler who visits these casinos will find a full slate of card-based table games that play in every way like the same games in Las Vegas and elsewhere.

I have long avoided the subject of baccarat mythology on this blog. I am a seeker of scientific truth. As substitutes for truth, fiction, story telling, anecdotes, false memories, mythology and outright lies frustrate me.

Casinos around the world are getting hit by advantage play teams involved in various schemes that allow them to predict when Aces and ten-valued cards are likely to be dealt. When I searched the literature for the edges possible from this type of play, I was surprised to find that these numbers are not publicly available.

Baccarat insurance is a side bet that players can make during the play of a hand of baccarat. This side bet is really an aggregate of sides bets, some of which can be made based on the first two cards exposed, and some of which can be made later during the play of the hand. Each of these side bets has its own separate wagering rules and payout.