# Baccarat: Always bet on the Banker?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baccarat-always-bet-on-the-banker/258946>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 8, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baccarat-always-bet-on-the-banker/258946 "2004-08-08T23:23:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![cmason32](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@cmason32](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmason32)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baccarat-always-bet-on-the-banker/258946/1 "2004-08-08T23:23:09Z")

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I was watching a show on the Travel Channel and some guy said that when betting on baccarat, if you always bet on the banker/dealer you should come out ahead. Do people agree with this? If so, why?

Thanks.

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [August 8, 2004, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baccarat-always-bet-on-the-banker/258946/2 "2004-08-08T23:35:32Z")

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Bushwa. Bet any way you want…the odds are identical, IIRC.

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**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baccarat-always-bet-on-the-banker/258946/3 "2004-08-09T03:30:55Z")

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Yes, always bet on the banker.

The house advantage for the banker is 1.06%, for the player it’s 1.24%, and for ties it’s 14.36%.

[cite](http://wizardofodds.com/games/baccarat/)

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baccarat-always-bet-on-the-banker/258946/4 "2004-08-09T03:35:13Z")

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Learn something every day… 😃

I play craps, which has better odds and is one helluva lot more exciting to boot.

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**Author:** ![Josh\_dePlume](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Josh\_dePlume](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Josh_dePlume)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baccarat-always-bet-on-the-banker/258946/5 "2004-08-09T22:34:44Z")

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But to be clear, it’s not true that

> [@cmason32](#):
>
> if you always bet on the banker/dealer you should come out ahead.

You’ll still come out behind on average, just slightly less far behind.