At the bottom of "How to play baccarat side bets?" lies a single number: the share of each stake a game keeps on average, known as the house edge. At table games it follows directly from the rules. A change in one payout or one dealer rule moves it, sometimes by more than the gap between two whole games. Knowing which rules matter lets a player compare tables in seconds and see what an hour of play is likely to cost.
The expected cost of play is the edge applied to the total amount staked, and the pace of a game decides how fast that total grows. A fast online table can deal several times more rounds per hour than a busy physical one, so a small edge applied quickly can cost more than a larger edge applied slowly. Multiplying the average stake by the rounds per hour and by the edge gives a fair estimate of what an hour at a given table is going to cost.
Baccarat offers three main bets, and their edges are far apart. The banker bet keeps a little over one percent after its commission, the player bet slightly more, and the tie bet, despite its generous payout, keeps around fourteen percent. Side bets at every table game work the same way: big payouts on unusual hands, funded by an edge that dwarfs the one on the main wager. Staying with the main bets is the simplest way to keep the cost of a session down.
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