High-rollers enjoy many trappings of the good life: fast cars, plush apartments and plenty of money to spend on entertainment.
The parties attended by billionaires may feature fine food and drink such as caviar, high-end Remy Martin cognac and Suntory Hibiki Japanese tequila.
Society’s top 1% move and groove to a different beat: for example, their games of choice include casino games like Craps, Baccarat and French Roulette.
Baccarat, for example, has a mystique which makes it a favourite among players. Despite being readily available to casual players and high-rollers alike, it is widely regarded as a game reserved for aristocracy, nobility and royalty.
What makes Baccarat such a showstopper?
For starters, Baccarat is played in the roped-off sections of casinos, away from the hullaballoo of the slot machine games, video poker attractions and Wheel of Fortune games.
Baccarat is regarded as a money game for the world’s wealthiest players, particularly from Asia. Indeed, the majority of Las Vegas’ table game takings are derived from Baccarat – thanks to the heavy hitters who fly in from Macau, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Japan. But you don’t need to fly in to Las Vegas casinos to play Baccarat – you can simply play Live Baccarat at Mansion Casino on PC, Mac or mobile.
Such is the appeal of Baccarat that casinos will accommodate outrageously high bets and comp players’ executive suites. Baccarat is a simple game to play, and the odds are particularly favourable to players. The options are clear: Banker bets, Player bets, or Tie bets. In fact, players don’t even need to touch the cards at all: simply place a wager on the hand you believe is going to win. Players can bet on any of the available 3 options – but the best odds are with the Banker.
Odds of winning Baccarat hands
Consider the odds for the Banker’s hand at just 1.06% versus 1.24% for the Player’s hand. Tie bets are discouraged since there is a high house edge on them at 14.36%. Ties tend to take place approximately 9.6% of the time, but the rather lacklustre payout of 8:1 hardly makes it an enticing prospect for players. As far as wins go, the Banker’s hand wins 45.8% of the time, and the Player hand wins 44.6% of the time. Without the possibility of a Tie hand considered, the Banker hand tends to win a little more than 50% of the time – making it the player favourite.
So how much can players expect with a winning hand in Baccarat? Banker and Player hands have 1:1 payouts – that’s even money. If you throw down big cash, you can double it. In Baccarat, 10s and Face Cards have a Zero-Value. That means that 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings are worth 0. All other cards assume their nominal value – that’s their face value. The magic number in Baccarat is 8 or 9, and that’s the hand total that is considered a natural in Baccarat. As a high roller, you simply want your chosen hand to be the closest in value to 9. There are rules in place to determine how cards are dealt and when cards must be dealt to the Player and the Banker. Any hand total that exceeds 9 simply has the tens digit removed.
It’s as simple as that!