Hi all,

First of all let me introduce a bit about myself. I've started to play Bac excessively for roughly 2 years.
I started out so well, sometimes winning 18k in a month. But of course I've lost much more than that ever since.
Bottom line is right now I'm on a very long losing streak. Much of that must have been me playing too much. Plus my psyche is weak right now since I've been losing big.
The point of this post (diary type) is my last stance against this game.
I give myself 2 more months. (With each session's outcome will be posted here).
If I don't make a profit I'd definitely consider retirement from this game. (Easier said than done).

If you're good/great Bac player, please keep an eye on my post. Please give me inputs as to where I need to improve on. I'll try to be as honest as possible when it comes to assessing my play.

I really APPRECIATE all your inputs going forward.

P/S I'll start posting my outcome in this same thread. Please stay tuned!

2nd post: (sorry it's long. But I want to get it off my chest)

It's good to have a third voice sometimes. Of course just like most of "addicted" gamblers, sharing with family or friends is NOT an option anymore.

My gambling problem started way back since the Poker Stars days. But I did better in poker than this.
Now I just can't grind in casino poker. So bacarrat it is.

I've learned/developed some decent systems that can profit me $300-$500/day.
The problem is I can never take it home.

By the way, I'm not here to talk about systems. In fact, I'll rarely discuss about how I play the game of bacarrat.
I'll mostly update my daily routine & most importantly, the outcome of each session.

I'll also discuss my mental state during/after each session, which I believe is my downfall.

When I'm on my way to the casino, I think/plan all the right things. The first 2-3 hrs usually have me ahead 200-300.
Then I kinna forget about the big picture. Start betting better with "house money" mentality.
Always ended up losing that & all my bankroll. Almost ALL THE TIME.

Please help advice me on how to overcome this.
Like I said my psyche is very weak right now. Of course that's due to gambling addiction.

I really don't think I can stop at once now. I need to make some $ now since I lost my job 2 years back.

But this isn't working & I need to do this the right way.

It's stupid to come here & ask for advice but I'm at the point of giving in, so all your inputs will help me.
I just need a morale boost & start from the get go. (Where I won $300/day for almost 20 days straight to start my Bac career).

Now it's more like months losing straight.

Please comment as much as possible. Thanks.

You are losing because your betting systems do not work, and you won't find any that will. This game has a built-in edge for the casino that allows you the chance of winning for short periods of time, but makes it increasingly difficult to win over longer periods of time. The fact that you won before was just raw good luck, or rather bad luck because it hooked you into eventually losing more than you ever won.

What you need is not advice on how to win, but help with your gambling addiction. Continuing to gamble at this game is the worst thing you can do. You are likely to just dig a bigger hole for yourself to get out of.

Go look at the "Degen Stories" thread in BBV. This is how a lot of them start out. If you don't want your life to become a story fit for that thread then seek professional help as soon as possible.

Find a pattern and follow it till it dies. Then rinse and repeat. Whether it be odds or evens, diagonal patterns sideways whatever it may be. Ride a pattern till you lose.

Your problem is changing from a game that is beatable albeit still pretty difficult to a game that is virtually impossible to win long term unless you have the luck of a god.

But what do I know though?

I guess my mother's friend just has bad luck since she
is lifetime over $5 million in the red losing at bacarrat
and at the same time dashing the dreams of any
significant inheritance for her children. On the bright
side her kids will have to learn to be much more self reliant.

"In baccarat chemin de fer and baccarat banque, by contrast, both players can make choices, which allows skill to play a part. Despite this, the winning odds are in favour of the bank, with a house edge no lower than around 1 percent."

Seems like every bet you make costs you money. Suggesting there are good baccarat pros who can give you excellent tips to lead you to not lose a lot of money seems like a stretch.

"I've learned/developed some decent systems that can profit me $300-$500/day.
The problem is I can never take it home."

No. No you haven't. You haven't at all. That is not how this works, that is not how any of this works.

If that were the case, you'd be setting yourself up for some huge losses. Also those systems aren't profiting you 300-500 a day as you aren't leaving with any profit. You also aren't applying any skill to a game where the house has an edge over you EVERY BET.

EVERY BET YOU MAKE THE HOUSE MAKES A THEORETICAL PROFIT, EVERY BET YOU MAKE IS A LONG TERM LOSING BET.

I mean why not play a lower house edge game or possible player edge game like videopoker or blackjack maybe. I think I've heard that in blackjack even if you do not count cards its possible to get pretty close to break even with comps and good rules if you use basic strategy. If you hit and run casinos playing -EV games you won't get ground down as much by the house edge and you can leave with some profits at least some of the time, it seems like your addiction won't let you do this either.

But really I think you need to quit gambling.

This post strikes me as rather stupid.

Hi KeepTrack!

Every reply posted above above makes a lot of sense to me except one. You can't hope to win following any pattern, imo.
Actually almost every baccarat player in the universe keep playing this strategy and we know the results.

Due to the negative edge, every gambling game (bj included) will give the player more losing spots than winning ones either in terms on numbers or in terms of ROI.
So a possible hint might be either to find out those winning spots (and at blackjack this trick could be done by card counting), or to enhance their impact on the whole strategy.

At baccarat some decisions or patterns are more likely than others but they aren't fairly payed, so B/P decisions cannot be beaten economically by any means.

There is no system and it never will exist a system capable to overcome the B/P negative edge: attempts tried to erase the negative spots impact by progressions failed miserably.
Empirically, some light will come out by overselecting the betting spots but this strategy takes a lot of time and anyway we are working without any certainty.
I'm talking about betting 1-2 spots per 5-6 shoes on average.
Notice that no one system dictates to bet 1-2 spots after 5-6 shoes displayed. It wouldn't attract nobody. And of course there's no certainty about the positive outcome.

The only sure way to beat baccarat mathematically is by card counting the side bets, and the most beatable side bet is the EZ "fortune bet". Nonetheless such task will be quite difficult to put in practice and it involves a lot of patience, an adequate huge bankroll and probably a team.

You can't make any "easy" money playing baccarat itlr, believe me.
And for that matter it's very very difficult to make money anyhow at this game.

There are plenty of opportunities to make money at other games.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

Some quick notes:

1) When I strickly used my system, I almost always win (70-80% of the time).
Let's me quickly break this down for you:

I need 25 units/shoe. (Need 100 units overall for 4 shoes just in case I run into a losing shoe on 1st attempt).
I'll win ~12-15 units/shoe when system works.
Lost all 25 units if it doesn't.

On average I'll go 4-5 shoes to lose one.
So I'll make 48-55 units and then lose 25 units. Still a profit of ~25 units every 4-5 shoes.
(If $25/unit then that's $500-$600 every 4-5 shoes profit).

2) When I said I can almost never bring the winnings home is because:
-I'm up & abandoned my system. Play "free style" hoping for quicker winning --> losing some, then chase lose. Bet bigger & bigger out of frustrations & went $0 in a flash.

Ex: My goal is to win $500 that day. I'll spend the first 3-4 hours winning 200-300 played extremely disciplined. (God awful but a shoe at the casino I go to take 3-4 hrs to finish). Then I abandoned the system, hoping to turn that 200-300 profit into $500 real fast. Some days it works, most of the times it doesn't.
Then I lost the profit. Frustrated because of the "wasted" time. Then bet my money rather quickly then lose all.
This story REPEATS time after time after time again.

3) When I played on Poker Stars, I did much better on tournament & cash games.
Ex: The best night for me was when I won 2nd place on a tourney for 11k. Then played cash games that same night & won 90k TOTAL.
Yes 90K.
I was stupid enough to just be able to cash out 10k of that & lost the 80k.

Point is when I played poker, I'm such a disciplined player.
Not so with bacarrat.
The problem is now I can't play online anymore. All those small sites that still allows US players don't have enough actions.

And I'm hooked to bacarrat now. That's why I'm playing a -EV game like you guys have said.

--------------
I just come back from the 1st sesson since I posted this thread.
Will post outcome soon.

First session result:

Since my gambling budget is really low right now I only brought $600 with me.
Went Friday night was a mistake because it was crowed & it took forever for a hand to be dealt. (Took 4-5 hrs for a 80 hands shoe can you believe that?)
Also too noisy I can't focus at all.

Since I don't have at least 50 units I didn't use my system at all. (I usually play $25/unit).
So I played "free styled" (you know, looking at screen boards, the way the cards drawn & stuffs).
Grind my way & lost $500 in 8 hrs (small breaks in between). I went to sleep. Only have $100 left.
I started losing right away, not like other trips when I won first then lost back.

So it was definitely a bad experience.
I woke up with $100 and fortunately, was able to win the $500 back.
I gave up & went home. Happy to be even for the first session.

Session 1's notes:

1) Weekends are bad. All the pretty chicks walking by didn't help either.

2) Didn't use my system because not enough bankroll.
(note that I need 100 units to play my system safely. I didn't have enough. So went with free style betting & lost).

3) There are opportunities for me to win $300-$500 still. However, I didn't capitalize on those.
I guess I used to play long hours & now just wasting my time watching good runs without betting. Then when decided to bet, the good run was over.
If I was just using 1-2-4 units betting on good trends I'd be up that much easily.

Note to self:

1) Don't play too long.
2) When opportunity presents itself. Be bold & bet.
3) Always remember the Win/Loss limits & daily goal.

Overall I played like 12 hrs, making $0 after gas.
Other days I'd just gave in & bet that last $100. (you know, "take me out of my misery"-type of bet).
However, I think about this forum & guess what's the heck. I can't start off with a new losing streak.
Happy that I stopped & recovered $500 later.

You guys indirectly saved me $600 so to speak lol

Please more comments...

With discipline alone you are not going to beat any EV- game of the universe and take my word for granted as we make a living by games.

First session result:

Since my gambling budget is really low right now I only brought $600 with me.
Went Friday night was a mistake because it was crowed & it took forever for a hand to be dealt. (Took 4-5 hrs for a 80 hands shoe can you believe that?)
Also too noisy I can't focus at all.

Since I don't have at least 50 units I didn't use my system at all. (I usually play $25/unit).
So I played "free styled" (you know, looking at screen boards, the way the cards drawn & stuffs).
Grind my way & lost $500 in 8 hrs (small breaks in between). I went to sleep. Only have $100 left.
I started losing right away, not like other trips when I won first then lost back.

So it was definitely a bad experience.
I woke up with $100 and fortunately, was able to win the $500 back.
I gave up & went home. Happy to be even for the first session.

Session 1's notes:

1) Weekends are bad. All the pretty chicks walking by didn't help either.

2) Didn't use my system because not enough bankroll.
(note that I need 100 units to play my system safely. I didn't have enough. So went with free style betting & lost).

3) There are opportunities for me to win $300-$500 still. However, I didn't capitalize on those.
I guess I used to play long hours & now just wasting my time watching good runs without betting. Then when decided to bet, the good run was over.
If I was just using 1-2-4 units betting on good trends I'd be up that much easily.

Note to self:

1) Don't play too long.
2) When opportunity presents itself. Be bold & bet.
3) Always remember the Win/Loss limits & daily goal.

Overall I played like 12 hrs, making $0 after gas.
Other days I'd just gave in & bet that last $100. (you know, "take me out of my misery"-type of bet).
However, I think about this forum & guess what's the heck. I can't start off with a new losing streak.
Happy that I stopped & recovered $500 later.

You guys indirectly saved me $600 so to speak lol

Please more comments...

1) This doesn't make any sense. Either you have an advantage, maybe a statistical one, or if you think that prolonging the session too much will lead to lose, then bet the opposite of what you'd do and you'll win double.

2) What's an ideal opportunity to bet in your opinion?

3) W/L limits? Dayly goal? So outcomes are restricted by dayly terms?
Are shoes instructed to get "dayly" results?

If you have the secret of success enlightened in three points why you joined here to post your long term miserable results looking for some help?

To answer Asymbacguy:

1) Don't play too long
"This doesn't make any sense. Either you have an advantage, maybe a statistical one, or if you think that prolonging the session too much will lead to lose, then bet the opposite of what you'd do and you'll win double."

-I'm not sure if you're a frequent gambler at casinos, but if you're, then you'd hear this a lot from hardcore ("addicted") players: "damn man I was up 3k, 5k, 2k earlier. Should have left, now I lost all that plus my money".

The point I make is that when you played too long, all your rational thinking go out the window. You make stupid decisions that you wouldn't make when you first started the session. Let's say you started up betting $50/decision. Then 9 hours later you're betting $400 here and $900 there. Why?

(Funny that you brought it up, but I thought about this many times: That is if I have a huge bankroll, I'd bet against every player. I'll end up taking all their money.)

2) When opportunity presents itself. Be bold & bet.
"What's an ideal opportunity to bet in your opinion?"

If you play this game long enough, you'd know when you're on a hot streak.
A few examples of a hot streak:
a) A guy sitting next to you is winning 8/10 hands, racking up huge chip stacks. Here you can just follow.
b) One side is so strong. Ex: Banker keeps winning easily & repeatedly.
c) All or most of your guesses are right.
d) Some patterns on the board are so right.
...
So an ideal opportunity to me is: when you feel like you're in a "favored" position like above, make the betting.
Since I've been losing a lot lately, I started to reserve the winnings when I do win --> don't win as much as I'd have had. A good streak can send me home, instead I win small on a hot streak & risk losing all back on a bad streak.

3) W/L limits? Dayly goal? So outcomes are restricted by dayly terms?
Are shoes instructed to get "dayly" results?

Here what I meant is that always be aware of the big picture:
Have a strict Win/Loss limits & stay with it.

Of course shoes don't produce "daily goals" for you. But what you can do is once you reached your limit for the day, be it Win or Loss limits, you should leave.

4) "why you joined here to post your long term miserable results looking for some help?"

I forgot to mention this in my prior posts, that I'll give myself 2 more months of playing this game. If I don't return a profit then I'll leave it for good.

So posting my outcomes here do 2 things for me:
a) A way to keep track of my winning/loss.
b) Since I post the results here. It's like a challenge for me to return a profit, rather than taking "silent" losses like I've been taking.

Know why athletes play better in front of a crowd than when practicing by themselves?
People tend to do better when they know they're watched by other people.

Here I hope by posting my results I can be more disciplined & played better in order to post good results.

the rational thinking went out the window the moment you sat down at bacc table

Not many responses here.
I'll close this thread.
Thanks

The hell you will.

OP please reread the above post and enjoy the rest of your life while you can.

The best advice you got was the first to answer your thread; Browni3141 was right. You are a degenerating gambling addict; go to GA ASAP.

"degenerating gambling addict"

quite fitting that is.

I'm fully aware that I'm an addict now as hard as that sounds.
I've lost everything, not just money.

The thing is I still think I can beat the game in ideal situations. (bankroll, mental state, discipline...) But I don't have any of that at the moment.

So you guys are right. I'm going downhill fast, not because of any systems, working or not.
Because like I said, I've found a system that wouldn't lose me much money with decent ROI.

Thing is I can never stop while ahead & once greed kicks in it ended up bad.

My most recent trip:

Buy in: $350
Highest point: $1,800. Down to $1.5k then back up to 1.8k.

I kept playing while I should stop & leave there.
The moment I got down to 1,4k I KNEW I'd lose everything if kept on playing because of unfavorable conditions. (Almost in the morning, not many players left, I'm dead tired, bad shoe...etc)

Yet I continued on until my last dollar. Pathetic.

For future responses I'd hope for some sympathetic comments. Thanks.

I NEED TO STOP!

So stop. Self ban yourself from all casinos in 300 mile radius and go from there

The problem man is that Baccarat is not a skill game, and everyone should know that patterns DOES NOT EXIST in any of these gamese (roulette, baccarat..)

The house edge is a mathematical certainty, and the only way you could win is using marked cards.

There is no strategy in Baccarat and every bet is losing you like 1% of that bet.
Every time you bet 100$ think it like throwing 1$ in the trash can, 'cause that's what you are doing.

So please.. just ask for help in real life and understand that there is no waay ANYONE (there are no good or bad baccarat players) could make money in baccarat in the long term.

I'm also studying statistics in uni.
Hope you can understand me.

Of course I can understand you.

I have two degrees in comp engineering & math. So probability & all that were all in my "system".
I hate to call it a system because it's not. It works like a charm (in my prior post) since I used "random to beat random" strategy.

The problems are greed & addiction (kept on playing even when win limit reached) that did me in.

My weakest aspect of my game (& life in general) is that I lack discipline.
And that caused my downfall.

Once I started gambling the worst of me came out. Like a monster just take over my mental state. I'd just got sucked into playing until my last dollars.

And when I REALLY need the money. I can win some $.
But other time I played a like maniac.

Bottom like is I just need to quit.
Losing my job for 2 years (part of it because of gambling since I couldn't focus in working anymore. Winning too much on Pokerstars made me think I could turn pro) makes me hesitated into working again.

Now I can't get an engineering job (away for 2 years) & I can't seem to be ok with minimum wage jobs.

But first thing first, once I stopped gambling I'd know what to do. Right now my mind is screwed up.

I hope I'd self banned myself from the nearby casinos in the near future. Once I do I'd post it here.

Thanks guys.

What school?

That's totally untrue, but for the sake of argument let's say you are right.

ouch, I really hate this game, I always chose Blackjack, looks funnier and you can make some influence in the way you play and in the final result.