Reason #1 why the Wizard likes Bovada:

Excellent customer support

The thing that separates Bovada from the rest is its customer support. Many other online gaming companies outsource their support. It can be difficult getting a response from them, and if you do it is often slow and handled by somebody with little understanding of gambling or even of English. But Bovada’s support is handled by Bovada, and their support staff is actually knowledgeable and helpful.

I’m so confident that you’ll have a good experience with Bovada that if you have a problem getting paid and you can’t resolve it with them on your own, I’ll talk to them myself. I personally have known the Bovada management for about three years and always found them to be professional, friendly, and knowledgeable. I have also personally visited one of their call centers so I could see first-hand how they handle customer issues. (More on my mediation service.)

If you have a problem with any other casino besides Bovada, I can’t help you. I get complaints from players of other online casinos every day who have difficulty getting paid. However that isn’t my job nor my problem. If you play at Bovada after clicking through my site I’ll stand behind you 100%. Any place else and you’re on your own.

Visit Bovada

Baccarat Flashing Dealers

Last Update: Sep 02, 2007

It has been known to happen that the dealer in baccarat will flash the next card to be dealt before closing bets. For those unfamiliar with the term, to flash a card means to show it prematurely, in this case before the player makes a bet. When this happens the player has a huge advantage. This section will tell you what to bet on according to the flashed card, the probability of winning, and your advantage. All tables are for eight decks.

The following table shows the probability of each bet winning according to the flashed card.

Probability of Winning by Flashed Card — Eight Decks
Flashed CardBanker WinsPlayer WinsTie Wins
0 0.495203 0.415228 0.089568
A 0.493789 0.415476 0.090736
2 0.490844 0.417197 0.091959
3 0.487016 0.419852 0.093132
4 0.479533 0.423290 0.097177
5 0.468070 0.433347 0.098583
6 0.442579 0.450141 0.107279
7 0.409506 0.483157 0.107337
8 0.365435 0.538370 0.096195
9 0.344181 0.559462 0.096357

The following table shows the expected value of each bet winning according to the flashed card.

Expected Value by Flashed Card — Eight Decks
Flashed CardBanker EVPlayer EVTie EVBest Bet
0 0.055215 -0.079975 -0.193887 Banker
A 0.053624 -0.078313 -0.183377 Banker
2 0.049105 -0.073647 -0.172369 Banker
3 0.042813 -0.067164 -0.161812 Banker
4 0.032266 -0.056243 -0.125407 Banker
5 0.011320 -0.034723 -0.112753 Banker
6 -0.029691 0.007562 -0.034488 Player
7 -0.094126 0.073651 -0.033967 Player
8 -0.191207 0.172935 -0.134245 Player
9 -0.232490 0.215281 -0.132787 Player

All things considered, the player advantage, if the dealer always flashes, is 6.76%.


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