I play at a top house. Way killer, and their are great houses behind that. But... as with many players, there is a strong influence that flows from mini and midi baccarat tables to manage and deal with.
Mini Baccarat
- More players countering each other which is good as opposed to bigger players being all dead wrong because of bad group think at midi tables.
- More high payout bet wins on average because more tables, means more great baccarat shoes, and more great baccarat shoes with a lot of high payout bet wins.
- Faster pace of play. OMFG, the cards are already shuffled and cut. You can not will a 4 sider to become a 9 if you need it!
- Faster pace of play means the win AND loss comes faster.
- Faster pace of play means less time to think if other players are pushing the pace.
- Lots of sharp and inexperienced players.
- Harder to bet big because you may be one of the bigger bets at the table.
Midi Baccarat
- If you have a good shoe and strong players that is a solid combination for success.
- More pressure and actual group think play which can be very bad if players are not doing well.
- Slower pace of play means the win AND loss usually comes slower so the pain of loss is easier to take?
- Slower pace of play means much more time to think, but that can be a negative.
- Lots of sharp and inexperienced players, but everyone looks more experienced playing bigger.
- Most players don't do a super long or annoying squeeze ritual.
- More fun if all the negatives are held in check and the winning performance is there. There is nothing better in baccarat then being able to score at a midi (and by extension high limit table) with strong driving and players you know.
- Midi can be very quiet and slow at times. That with the slow pace of play is a killer. You will have many baccarat shoes going nowhere which means less great shoes.
I have really had a rough time betting the same way and playing the same way at each format. That is, in my view, it is easier for a player to hand in the pocket and put up big bets at midi because players are betting bigger on average than mini. However, there are frequently big, big players at mini also and hosted games allow sky high limits too.
Example (not me but just to show):
- Mini with bet sizes going up ranging from $10 - $100 and you step in and place $500).
- Midi with bet sizes going up ranging from $50 - $3,000 and you step in and place $500). Feels more in-line/ better. Fvck it, let's do this becomes the mindset when you have much bigger bets being placed.
I experience a difference. But the game is the same. The game is not the same. I want to primarily play the mini tables because of the faster pace and less group think bias when it is wrong, but I do play differently on mini UNLESS there bigger players there too so maybe I just need to look for those situations...
I have said it before and I am pretty sure wrote something on it--'Camaraderie'.
I have won large sums of money and probably the most overall in positive situations of player camaraderie at the tables.
In the past, especially at big-table baccarat, 14 seat table with the 3 dealers where the shoe goes around the table and players deal the cards and hold the shoe as long as they produce winning banker hands, camaraderie rules the bigger players in more ways than one. But these days with the players not liking big table and the players always believing in the 'cut' they ruined big-table original baccarat. And the casinos love the players for doing that as well, LOL!