There is no baccarat strategy beyond betting Banker and sizing your bets. The pattern culture — roads, streaks, "following the shoe" — tracks genuine history with zero predictive value. This page shows why, then covers the bankroll math that actually does something.
Why patterns predict nothing
Each hand's probabilities are fixed by the third-card rules and the shoe's composition: Banker ~45.9%, Player ~44.6%, Tie ~9.5%. Six Banker wins in a row leave the next hand at the same probabilities — the cards do not know the score. Streaks appear constantly because randomness produces runs; reading them is astrology with better lighting.
If you want the math: in 80 hands (one shoe), a run of 6+ same-side wins occurs more often than not. Pattern systems "work" in the same sense roulette systems do — they generate decisions, the decisions cost nothing extra, and the edge never moves. The harm is indirect: pattern play encourages Tie bets ("due") at 14.36% and bet escalation mid-streak.
What the roads are
The Big Road, Bead Plate and derived roads are notations for displaying shoe history — invented for pace and culture in Macau baccarat, carried into every online studio. Reading them is fluency in a notation, not an edge. Treat them as the game's scoreboard aesthetic.
Bankroll, the real strategy
Baccarat's bankroll math is friendly: low edge, near-even-money outcomes, no decisions to misplay.
| Lever | Setting |
|---|---|
| Bet | Banker, every hand |
| Unit | 1–2% of session bankroll |
| Expected cost | ~$1 per 100 hands per $10 unit |
| Variance | ±10 units per 100 hands is routine |
Pace is the multiplier: speed tables double hands per hour and with them hourly cost. A $200 bankroll at $4 units survives normal variance comfortably; the same bankroll at $25 units on a speed table is a coin-flip session. Stop conditions and deposit limits do the rest — the blackjack bankroll guide framework transfers wholesale.
Bonus warning: baccarat's low edge gets it excluded or heavily reduced in wagering contribution at most casinos. Check the terms before assuming Banker grinding clears anything.