By choosing the right bets and managing your bankroll, is it possible to improve your long-term prospects at the baccarat table?

Is there method in the madness of following streaks? Or is online baccarat a purely random game with no pattern at all? Let's take a look at two systems designed to prove it.

How the Follow the Shoe betting works

In baccarat, players make bets on the outcome of two hands: the Player's, and the Banker's.

Two cards are dealt to each side. The winning hand is the one closest to a total of 9. In some situations, a third card may also be dealt.

The payout for a Player win is 1/1, with the Banker paying 19/20 (1/1 minus a 5% commission). A successful bet on a Tie pays 9/1.

In online baccarat, Random Number Generators oversee the "shuffling" of the deck in the shoe. This keeps the game fair for all players.

That said, baccarat players in both land-based and online casinos love to pick out trends. You can even follow the history of previous hands in the baccarat lobby.

Detailed charts list the previous results and any hot or cold streaks that might emerge.

Inevitably, some gamblers have developed systems to track streaks and beat the game. The simplest is the Follow the Shoe system.

Simply, your next bet is placed on the winner of the previous hand. So, if the Banker won the previous hand, your next bet would also be on the Banker. If the Player hit a winner, you bet on the Player.

The idea with Follow the Shoe is to hit a winning baccarat streak just as it is beginning.

Keen baccarat players can be convinced that wins come in clumps where the same side keeps winning for several hands.

Using the Avant Dernier system

A similar system to Follow the Shoe is the Avant Dernier plan. Named after the French for 'Before Last'. It's an easy to plan to follow.

The idea with the Avant Dernier is to place a bet on the last but one result. For example, let's say the last four results have been:

Player
Banker
Player
Banker

Your next bet would be a wager on the last but one result: the Player. The Avant Dernier system also takes advantage of hitting a winning streak. However, it also works for alternating streaks, as in the example above.

Both the Follow the Shoe and Avant Dernier plans can be used with roulette, too.

It's another casino game that makes use of the History tab, where players can chart the previous dozen or so results. If you believe in hot and cold streaks, it can be a good plan to use.

Advantages and disadvantages of following streaks

Players love to bet with or against the streak. But only a long series of bets will determine whether there is a streak in the game.

The biggest disadvantage of using a streak system like Follow the Shoe online is that a random number generator is used to determine the cards.

Each deal is independent from the last. Even in a six or eight-deck shoe it can be hard to judge which cards are going to come out.

Trying the follow the Shoe betting system

On the surface, casino games like baccarat seem to throw up patterns and streaks. But like roulette, there is no connection between one result and the next.

You will find detailed histories in all baccarat game lobbies. Try your luck at the Betway Casino online baccarat tables and see if you can beat the streak.