Best Online Casino Sites for Baccarat in 2024
Baccarat has always been the game with a touch of elitism. Wealthy aristocrats in fancy dress, jewels, extremely high initial bets — that's how this game looked like a few decades ago. Now, it all has changed. You don't have to be an aristocrat, you don't have to spend thousands of dollars, and what's more, you don't even have to leave your house to play this amazing game. Now, you only need a laptop or a smartphone, several bucks on your deposit, and a good Internet connection. Sounds interesting, doesn't it?
TOP online casinos with Baccarat
Table of Contents
The best online casino sites to play baccarat for real money
If you’re a beginner, you probably have many questions about this game, strategies, and about choosing the right site to play it. If you’re a professional player, you most likely want to find some new and good websites to try. The UCE team has gathered all the most important things here — from the list of the coolest sites to the tips, strategies, and answers to the most asked questions. So, if you want to know more about this game, we know how to help you; if you want to refresh your knowledge, we know how to help you; and if you’re just looking for a cool website to try, guess what — we know how to help you. Let’s start it!
Types of the game
And the very first thing you’ll have to do is choose the type of baccarat you’ll play. To be fair, they only have slight differences, but we are still sure that you must know about them. Here they are.
- American. It’s also called “Punto Banco”, it’s the most popular variation of this game. 8 decks, the goal is to score 9 (or as close to this number as possible), the Ace is 1 point, the 1-9 cards are 1-9 points respectively, and the other cards are 0 points. It makes sense that you’ll most likely get more than 10, so if the value of your hand is, say, 13, (or any other number which is higher than 10), 10 is subtracted. If you have 0-5, you’ll draw, if you have 6-7, you’ll stand, and if you have 8-9, the most valuable hand wins.
- Chemin de Fer. What’d they call a Baccarat? Le Baccarat. Well, no, in fact, the Europeans call this game “Chemin de Fer”, and there are some differences from the American version. Thus, there are 6 decks instead of 8, and the maximum number of players is 12 instead of 14. The players don’t bet against the house, only against other players (one of the players is a Banker, when the Banker loses, the next player on the right of him will be the Banker). Long story short, the European variation of the game (although it’s technically the original game, and American baccarat is the variation of it) is characterized by the more active role of the players.
- Super Pan 9. The main difference is the deck — this game uses the modified decks with 36 cards (ace to 6 and face cards). Every player gets 3 cards at the beginning of the game and can get one more card.
- 3-card. This variation only uses 1 deck, and the value of the cards is the same as in any other variation of the game. The main difference is that if you get 3 face cards, you win because such hands are the highest hands in this game. However, 3-card baccarat isn’t the most common type of this game in the world, especially when it comes to online casinos.
Well, even if you choose a certain variation of this game, it still might look different. The number of decks, the number of players, the third card rule — all the casinos have their own rules. But, if you get used to, say, American baccarat in one casino and then migrate to another website that offers this type of this game, you’ll most likely have no problems with it.
Tips and strategies
The thing is: it’s a chance game, so your chances to win or to lose only depend on the cards. You can get 9 points and win without any strategies. Or, you can get 6 points, stand, and another player will win with 9. There is no working method to win all the time — even the card counting doesn’t work here. It’s all about luck (and about the fair random number generators if we’re talking about the online casinos). However, there are several things you have to know to increase your chances.
Choose the right bet type
There are three possible bets: Banker, Player, and Tie. The house edge is the lowest for the Banker bet (1.06%) and it’s slightly higher for the Player bet (1.24%), and as for the last one, Tie bet, the percentage is… 14.4%. Yes, there’s no mistake here: it’s ten times higher. If you want to play baccarat online for real money (not in a free mode), ignore the Tie bet because if you make it, you’ll lose your money.
The Banker bet, however, looks like the best one. Yes, there is a commission (5%), but the casinos only have this commission because of the fact this bet is not so profitable for them — and if it’s not so profitable for the casino, it’s perfect for you as a player. However, it’s not so simple — thus, it’s highly recommended to switch to Player bet after the Banker loses. But not if you use the systems, of course.
The point is: if you use the systems (such as Martingale), the Player bet may work much better for you. Why? Let’s assume that you use the Martingale system (it’s all about doubling the bet after the loss; once you win you cover all the previous losses). Let’s assume that the bet is $10. You double the bet and lose, say, 4 times, which means you lose 10+20+40+80=$150. Then, you finally win ($160+$160), and everything looks good — except the commission. The commission is 5%, and it means that you only win $304 (it’s $320-5%), which, in its turn, means that you’ve wagered $310 (10, 20, 40, 80, and 160) and lose $6, even as you’ve won! So, if you’re going to use the systems, the Player bet will work better for you (in some cases) because there is no commission here. However, the systems are not the best thing in the world when it comes to Baccarat. So…
Forget about the systems
The thing is: these systems can work, but only if you have a pocket full of dollars. We’ve just talked about an example where the player uses the Martingale with the initial bet of $10, and it looked nice because in our example, the player won after the fourth loss. But what if there were, say, 9 losses in a row (with the same initial bet)? In this case, the player loses 10+20+40+80+160+320+640+1280+2560=$5110. The next game will bring this player $10240 ($9728 if it’s the Banker bet), but to get this money, the player will have to bet $5120 in addition to the $5110 he has already bet.
The problem is: the absolute majority of players just can’t afford to bet $10,230. The absolute majority of players will only lose money using the Martingale system. What if you double the bet until you don’t have any money left and there’s still no win? Nothing good. Yes, sometimes this system looks great, especially on a short-term scale, but in the long term, it isn’t profitable at all because all of us have certain limits when it comes to what we can afford to lose.
Play for free first
When it comes to skill-based games, we say “play for free first” because the players must improve their skills before risking their real money. But here, we’re talking about a chance game, so what’s the point?
It’s just about the habit. When you finally play baccarat online (real money), you’ll have to do everything fast without losing your time. If you’ve never played this game online, you will not have any problems with it, that’s a fact — but you’ll most likely have problems with the interface of the website if it’s your first time. So, it would be wise to try a free mode first — just to understand how this game works.
Manage your money
It’s not about baccarat only, it’s about all the casino games in the world: you should be careful with your money. Some players win jackpots, some become billionaires, that’s right, but the majority of the players either lose money or win a few dollars. That’s the truth, and you must understand that you should deposit what you’re comfortable losing, but not more than that — if you win, it’s a bonus, and if you lose, well, it won’t make you bankrupt. It’s simple as that, but unfortunately, thousands of players forget about this simple rule.
How to have the best experience possible
The very first thing to do is find a great online casino that won’t steal your money. It’s not the most difficult thing in the world — you can choose any website from our list (the UCE experts have done their best and gathered the best sites), or you can do it by yourself. Just don’t forget to check the certificates (such as SSL certificate, anti-virus certificate, and eCOGRA certificate) and the license (it must be valid). Checking the reputation will be nice, too — you’ll have to read dozens of reviews and sort out the fake ones, but that’s what must be done.
Online gambling: what else to know about it
Now, when you know about the strategies and types of the game, you may feel like you’re ready to start playing. But that’s not all — there are some more things every beginner must know. Here they are.
- Taxes. You will have problems if you ignore taxes — the winnings are fully taxable, so you must report the income on your tax return.
- The withdrawals aren’t so fast. If it’s your first withdrawal, you should be ready to spend some time. The casino will most likely want you to upload lots of scans (ID card, driver’s license, etc) to verify your identity.
- Free baccarat. As we’ve already said, it’s recommended for all the new players to try a free mode first. You can practice, try some strategies, or just understand how it all works — and it’s much better to do it for free.
- Bonuses can be tricky. Sometimes, the extras are not what the casinos want them to look like. Be careful and always read the terms of the promotions before activating them.
FAQ
What casino sites accept players to playing baccarat for real money?
The number of such sites is extremely high. The problem is that most of them aren’t legal, and playing in such casinos can result in some serious problems — first, you can lose money, and second, it’s just illegal. Lucky for you, the UCE team has found the best casinos that accept players here — they all are legal, and you won’t have any problems if you choose any of them. Here’s the top 3 list of the best websites:
1. Cool Cat
2. Planet 7
3. BoVegas
How to make money playing baccarat?
First, don’t use “systems”. They may look great, but they don’t always work in real life — an average player just doesn’t have enough money to double the bets again and again.
Then, don’t choose the Tie bet — it has a ridiculously high house edge, and you will most likely lose money if you choose it. And choose only the legal and reputable websites — the list of such sites is already here, by the way.
How to play baccarat online without money?
There are two ways you can go.
The first is called no dep bonuses — just choose a casino that offers such extras here, sign up, and start playing for free.
The second is called a “free-mode” — lots of casinos offer free baccarat games, and you can find some of them here. No registration and no deposit is required!
