Dear Mark,
I'm about to make my first trip to Las Vegas. Can you give me your favorite King Midas tip that will turn my trip into gold? Jerome S.

Why King Midas, Jerome? When I think of King Midas my thoughts turn toward greed. In Ovid's Greek tale, Midas was so greedy he wanted everything he touched to turn to gold. To his delight, his wish came true, and he proceeded to gild everything in sight. But like a rapacious player who wants to win every hand, his fate was tragic in the end. He killed his own beloved daughter with his magical touch.

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Captain Cooks Baccarat TableAt the casino, European baccarat is considered the game of the hoi polloi. It’s where the upper crust congregates to try their luck and lose their designer shirts. Low rollers used to keep their distance from that scene. Now with the emergence of mini baccarat and online baccarat, anyone and everyone can play the game without feeling intimidated.

1. I want to play to win… what’s the best strategy? Actually, there is no strategy in baccarat. Like slots, once you lay your bet and push the button the rest is up to fate. The software takes over, dealing the cards and calculating (in the blink of an eye) the scores and the winning hand. You don’t even have to know how to add up the points but it does make the game more interesting.

2. Which is the best bet in baccarat? Your main job as player is to decide whether to bet on the banker, the player, or a tie. The house edge on tie bets is too high (over 14%) so limit yourself to banker or player. In each case, the house advantage is extremely small: only about 1.17% on a banker bet and 1.36% on a player bet. These numbers may vary slightly from house to house.