Frequently Asked Questions
Q: In Baccarat, is it worthwhile making
a bet on ties? The house gives 8-1 in some casinos and 9-1 in
others. Why is that?
A: The tie bet in baccarat is never a worthwhile bet and should
always be avoided for one simple reason, and that is that the house
edge is 14.09 percent. The payoff at all casinos is 8-1, not
9-1. You've been deceived, like many other gamblers, into thinking
that 9 for 1 equals 9 to 1. That's not the case. Whenever
you see "for" between two numbers, you should be aware that these
bet pays off one less number than that quoted.
Q: When playing "don't pass" and "don't
come" at craps, it seems to me that it's wiser to double your
original bet, rather than to have half the bet on the line and then
lay the odds.
A: The mathematics of craps boils down to this: If you bet
"don't pass" and don't lay the odds, the house has an advantage over
you of approximately 1.4 percent. If you lay single odds, the
house advantage is 0.8 percent, and with laying double odds, the
house edge drops further down to 0.6 percent.