Comparing Baccarat vs. Roulette – Which Casino Game Should You Play?

Whenever I walk past a baccarat table, I think, “I gotta try that out sometime.” But then I hear the crowd cheering at the roulette table, and my feet automatically transport me to the nearest roulette wheel.

Still, I glance back over at the baccarat table, every now and then, my inner James Bond urging me to go to the baccarat table, order a martini in my best Sean Connery accent (“shaken, not stirred”), and place a huge bet with those big shingle-shaped chips they use in Monte Carlo because regular round chips are so déclassé.

And yes, I had to look that up.

Whether you’re playing roulette or baccarat, you’re playing a game of chance. That means we’ll have to look at other aspects of both games to determine which is better. Below I’ll look at both games from various perspectives and see if I can determine a clear winner in the battle of roulette vs. baccarat.

One of the first differences in the match-up of baccarat vs. roulette is the difference in wagering choices.

Roulette has far more wagering options than baccarat, so provided you’ve been apprised of the simple rules governing baccarat, it is at least as easy to play as roulette.

In fact, roulette is harder to learn simply because of the variety of wagers and the differences in the odds and pays. Sure, understanding that hitting one number in 36 pays much more than hitting a red versus a black number. But which pays more—a “dozens” bet or a street bet?

Trick question, of course—they both represent a single bet on 12 numbers at once, and both pay 2 to 1.

Once you’ve learned the basic rules of baccarat, it is very nearly coin-flip simple to play. Avoiding the tie bet (for reasons I’ll note later), you have two betting choices—player or banker.

You’ll want to view our roulette guide to learn more about the different variants and some advice.

With its wide range of wagers, roulette takes this round with a TKO. Roulette gives you varying degrees of risk, depending on what sort of bet you make. Betting even/odd or red/black pays even money while wagering on a single number pays 35-1 (assuming you’re playing an American roulette table with 0 and 00).

Baccarat offers odds similar to those of the red/black odds of roulette but doesn’t offer the distraction of longer odds.

And let’s face it: However much you insist you’re going to stick with the tame but more reliable even-money bets, those longer odds are a real temptation for some gamblers (**raises hand**).

From the above tables, you can see that there’s a slight advantage to wagering at the roulette table—provided you bet the 1 to 1 payouts (18 high/low, red/black, or odd/even).

Since both baccarat and roulette are games of chance, the only real way to determine which is easier is to look at how many ways a player can lose at either of them. And baccarat gives you only three main bets—on the banker, on the player, and on a tie.

The house edge on the player and the banker wagers is lower than it is at many other table games: Banker bets give the house a 1.06% advantage, while Player bets give the house a 1.24% edge. Only perfect play at blackjack gives the house a lower edge (0.5%).

One caveat here: Betting on a tie in baccarat gives the house a 14.26 advantage. While it pays 8-1, you have to be pretty bored to give the house that much of an edge. My advice: Don’t get bored.

Conversely, roulette has 20 possible types of bets (inside, outside, row, column, etc.) and scores of possible wagers. And the odds on these bets vary from nearly even money to 35-1. These wagers give the house an overall edge in roulette of 5.26%.

One overlooked perspective in the battle of which to play—baccarat vs. roulette—is that you have to realize there are many more ways to lose at the roulette table than there are at the baccarat table.

Sure, you can win bigger at roulette, where the longest odds are 35-1 vs. baccarat’s 8-1. But your chances of winning at the baccarat table are immensely better—betting on the banker, for instance, pays 51% of the time (if no one has bet on the tie).

This brings up another caveat: If no one has bet on the tie, a tie is a push in baccarat; since a tie happens less than 10% of the time, betting on the banker gives the bettor an advantage. Because of that, casinos charge a 5% commission on banker wins.

If you need more assistance on how to play, then our baccarat guide will go further into detail.

You can even stage your own battle online with live baccarat vs. live roulette.

That’s right: You don’t have to wait for your next weekend trip to Vegas or Atlantic City to do your own baccarat vs. roulette comparison. You can find live roulette and live baccarat online at many virtual casinos.

With live dealers, you can really get a feel for the pace of each game and learn the rules and intricacies of the table layout.

Also, there’s not quite as much hubbub around live dealer tables. This might be a plus or a minus in your book, but I prefer tables where everyone present has money in the game.

Both live dealer baccarat and live dealer roulette offer the same advantages over brick & mortar versions: Convenience (24/7, my friend), clarity (no distractions), and comfort (sitting in your home office sipping wine in your skivvies—don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it).

Comparing baccarat with roulette is more difficult than you might first imagine. As I mentioned above, both are games of chance. There is no technique or strategy that can make the ball hit a specific number or the cards to be dealt in a predictable fashion.

If that were all there was to the two games, the battle of baccarat vs. roulette would be a dead heat, a split decision, a push.

Sure, you’re not going to get rich quickly at 1 to 1 payouts, but if it were easy, everybody’d be doing it. So, while roulette gives you the opportunity to take a flyer at higher than even odds, baccarat is more of a coin flip game, with slightly better odds on heads (banker bet).

That said, I like roulette more simply because excitement is one of the reasons I like to gamble. Baccarat—essentially a coin-flip game—could just as easily be called a bored game. Of course, YMMV.

Now that you’ve read all I have to say about comparing baccarat with roulette be sure to peruse my take on the differences between baccarat and craps.

Comparing Craps vs. Baccarat – Which Game Should Gamblers Play at Casinos?

The craps vs. baccarat debate can be decided purely off which game you prefer more. Baccarat is a bit easier to understand, but you can learn craps by playing just a few games. Craps is better in the social department, but baccarat should lead to more...

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Footnote:

• Baccarat Odds information provided by PlaySmart.