Baccarat Strategy

RIDING STREAKS

Let's say you are in a situation where you're sitting at a baccarat table and you're watching as three Player hands win in succession. You have been betting on the Banker and you've got a friend at the table who nudges you and suggests that perhaps you should not be "bucking the trend" and should be on the Banker's hand, so that you can "ride" the streak. Does any of this constitute something wise to do?

Streaks are an interesting thing indeed. If you are the superstitious type, you may notice one, or think you notice one in progress, and may want to immediately hop on board. That's not unnatural at all. There is a tendency to ride a streak if it involves a certain result coming up a few times in a row, and you don't want to "tempt fate."

The one thing you should know about streaks is that they do not last for very long, and especially not in a game like baccarat, in which there is no logical basis for an extended streak to occur. You should never base a decision on which side (Player, Banker or Tie) to bet on, strictly based on what happened on the previous hand, or based on what kind of "streak" has happened on a few hands before that.

You don't have to memorize tables or anything like that, but it might be a good idea for you to know what you're facing if you are counting on getting on a winning streak by betting either the Banker or the Player. Without going down the whole table, let's give you a bunch of examples:

• Over the course of fifty hands, you can expect approximately .18 runs (50 x .00359585) of seven Player hands in a row winning
• Over the course of 75 hands, you can expect approximately 1.24 runs (75 x .01649424) of five Banker hands in a row winning
• Over the course of a hundred hands, you can expect approximately .729 runs (100 x .0072914) of six Player hands in a row winning
• Over the course of 1000 hands, you can expect approximately .0185 runs (1000 x .00001845) of 15 Banker hands in a row winning
• Over the course of 500 hands, you can expect approximately .216 runs (500 x .00043129) of ten Players hands in a row winning
• Over the course of 20 hands, you can expect approximately 2.53 runs (20 x .12668557) of two Banker hands in a row winning
• Over the course of 20 hands, you can expect approximately 2.47 runs (20 x .12326768) of two Player hands in a row winning
• Over the course of 20 hands, you can expect approximately 1.28 runs (20 x .06420894) of three Banker hands in a row winning
• Over the course of 20 hands, you can expect approximately 1.22 runs (20 x .06079105) of three Player hands in a row winning
• Over the course of 200 hands, you can expect approximately 12.16 runs (200 x .06079105) of three Player hands in a row winning
• Over the course of 200 hands, you can expect approximately 12.84 runs (200 x .06420894) of three Banker hands in a row winning

As you can see, when you are sitting at the baccarat table for either short or lengthy periods, you are not going to be fortunate enough to be able to ride many streaks. This should not be a major component of any "strategy" you want to undertake.