Casino Odyssey IV: Mini Has Become Maxi

20 February 2024

By Frank Scoblete

The traditional game of baccarat, often called the high-roller room baccarat, was a relaxed, elegant game played at a large table with tuxedo-clad male dealers and evening-gowned female dealers. It was the game of James Bond, over and away ahead of roulette.

Players were also dressed to the nines – which was the highest natural number at the game.

I enjoyed playing it. In fact, I loved playing it. The game was slow and although the stakes were high, the house edges were in the low single percentages – except for one bet, the “tie” which was awful and should never be made. I never made it, even during sessions where I was hot.

A fun fact about the game was that players got to deal the cards when it was their turn – if they wished. I always dealt.

Unlike blackjack where every decision a player made concerning how to play his or her hands counted, and increased or decreased the player’s winning expectations, no such thing existed in baccarat. The rules on hitting and standing were iron-clad. Still dealing the cards was fun, even though the player had no choices to make in the game except to decide which of the two bets to make – either “bank” or “players.”

Today, it is rare to find the traditional game of baccarat in casinos. The big table takes up a lot of space and the half-dozen dealers take up a lot of salary lines. Casinos decided to reduce or eliminate it by introducing a new game called mini-baccarat.

The casinos introduced this offshoot of the traditional baccarat game which had the same bets with the same house edges but it was played on a table slightly larger than a blackjack table but nowhere near as large as the traditional game of baccarat.

Since the dealer was, in short, the only dealer, the speed of the game increased markedly. Instead of maybe 40 decisions an hour at traditional baccarat, the mini-version came with maxi-speed, upward of 150 decisions per hour!

A small house edge becomes tougher to beat with the increase in decisions. The speed of a casino game is often overlooked by casino players. An increase of mini-baccarat’s speed was an increase in favorability for the casino and a decrease of favorability for the players.

Then the casino initiated several “bonus events” on which the players could wager. And the players have wagered on such events with glee. Much like players at craps who make all sorts of poor bets, players at mini-baccarat made all sorts of poor bets as well. Those poor bets helped the casinos’ coffers too.

Mini-baccarat has become a maxi-game for the casinos – probably making more money than traditional baccarat ever did. More money coming in; less money going out. That is a successful game for the casinos.

To add insult to injury, many mini-baccarat tables have been put in the high-roller rooms, with somewhat higher house minimums but nowhere near the minimums of traditional baccarat. It has a large Asian following and these players flock to the game even in the high-roller rooms.

Time had elided traditional baccarat. Unless you sit out two-thirds of the decisions at mini-baccarat, you are playing a very dangerous game.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete’s web site is www.frankscoblete.com. His books are available from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books, libraries, and bookstores.