Learn all of the ways to play live baccarat online, including speed, squeeze and controlled squeeze variants.
There’s more than one way to squeeze a baccarat card! Okay, maybe that’s not the best paraphrasing of a classic idiom, but you get the idea. Like so many casino games, baccarat can be played in multiple variants. Now that live dealer online casino gaming is really taking off, the list of live casino baccarat games is growing with it.
In the early days of live casinos, simply having access to a traditional game in that format was enough. Today, more innovative designs are getting a lot of attention, especially among veteran players. The classic edition still harvests the most clientele, but if you’re looking for something a bit less traditional, there are some unique options out there.
Ways to Play Live Baccarat Online
Live dealer games are a perfect melding of online and land-based casino action. You have a real dealer and multiple players, all participating around a real casino table. However, sophisticated cameras are used to live-stream the games from a studio directly to your computer or mobile device. So you can play from just about anywhere, without traveling to a physical casino.
There are currently four ways to play live casino baccarat online.
The Traditional Way
These games are played with traditional rules, at normal speed. They mimic the same experience as land-based casino and digital (RNG) online baccarat games. You’ll have plenty of time to place a bet before any cards are dealt.
Speed Baccarat
Speed baccarat games are, as the name implies, a faster way to play live baccarat. There’s no change in the rules or pay table. You’ll just have less time to place a new bet between hands.
These are generally preferred by veteran gamblers who use a betting system. Unless, you’re a real pro, I don’t actually recommend it. Like slot machines, speed baccarat is a fabrication of games manufacturers who work in tandem with casino operators to find faster ways to separate gamblers from their bankroll.
Live Baccarat with Squeeze
Squeeze baccarat is a variant of the game originating from China. In Macau casinos, baccarat is one of the most popular games among high rollers. They have some unique superstitions in the Orient, and one of them revolves around this game.
The idea is that if you “squeeze” one of the cards just enough to see the suit, and its placement on the card, you can somehow make that card be the number you need. That is, if that number happens to be possible based on the placement of the suit that’s revealed.
Of course, in baccarat, seeing the card before it’s fully dealt makes no difference at all. Every player has already placed their bet. The casinos know that giving players this so-called superstitious advantage isn’t going to increase their odds of winning. It can make the game a bit more interesting though.
Controlled Squeeze Baccarat
This last variation is much like the live dealer baccarat game described above, but with a slight twist. The player who places the highest bet at the table gets to ‘control the squeeze‘. This means that player will choose which card is to be squeezed by the dealer. This is the most common way of playing the game at casinos in Macau.