To understand the history of card squeezing, we should first look at the story of baccarat as a whole.
Most historians believe that it’s based on various card games from East Asia, such as San zhang, Oicho-Kabu, and Gabo japgi, which were quite popular across China, Japan, and Southeast Asia in the 17th century. As a side note, we should mention that Asian gambling cultures put a lot of stock into fate over statistics, which has led to a lot of colorful superstitions.
There are differing accounts on where and how baccarat reached Europe. While some believe that it dates back to the 15th century, the first actual accounts of the game only appear in 19th-century France. That said, the original baccarat is not played against a dealer. Instead, 3-7 players face off against each other. Conversely, the casino-based baccarat we know and love today is actually an Italian variant known as punto banco.
The exact first recorded instance of card squeezing is difficult to pinpoint. However, it’s safe to assume that it comes from Macau casinos, where players were already bending the cards throughout the 20th century. Consequently, the practice is most common in Macau, where many players consider it to be an integral part of the game experience.
If there’s one main takeaway from historical facts, it’s that baccarat card bending is culturally tied to Asian casinos. While gamblers are a superstitious bunch as a whole, Asian players tend to put a lot more weight on these beliefs and whether they can impact one’s fate.
Psychology & Superstition
First of all, we have to understand that baccarat is almost completely a game of chance. In contrast to games like blackjack, players have almost no direct influence over the outcome of a round of baccarat. The gameplay comes down to picking a bet and hoping for the best.
This also means that there’s not a lot one can do at a baccarat table. It’s a fast-paced game with only 3 main betting options, which can become very repetitive unless you do something to spice things up.
However, gamblers still like to feel that they can control the game’s progress. They want to believe that their fate is in their hands, which explains why baccarat is surrounded by myths, misconceptions, and superstitions.
Though the outcome of the round is completely down to luck, slowly bending the cards quite literally puts some control into the player’s hands. Despite the fact that this little bit of control is irrelevant for the game itself, it can subtly increase your enjoyment of the game and your subjective sense of excitement.
This phenomenon is not unique to baccarat or gambling: people enjoy the feeling of having control over actions and consequences in general. In psychology, this is called a Sense of Agency. More interestingly, people enjoy this feeling even if it’s just an illusion – something often called the Illusion of Agency.
Additionally, card squeezes in baccarat are a long-standing tradition that can even be described as a ritual. As a whole, rituals provide a sense of predictability, control, and connection – all of which tie in nicely with our previous points.
Lastly, we should not disregard the superstition that card bending increases your chances of winning. Though it’s obviously not a provable fact, such beliefs also give players a feeling of confidence in the face of uncertainties, such as not knowing how the game of baccarat will turn out.
How Players Actually Bend the Cards
Despite everything, this traditional practice does not actually take a lot of skill or finesse. There are several ways in which players bend cards in baccarat:
- Classic corner squeeze: The most common way to bend the cards is to grab a corner and slowly peel it off the table until you reveal the card’s rank and value. This reveals the card’s color and rank before the suit, though card suits are largely irrelevant in baccarat.
- Macau-style squeeze: In Macau casinos, players are often allowed to touch the cards and reveal them instead of the dealer. As a result, card squeezing can be a lot more freeform: some players bend, fold, crumple, or even tear the cards as a way of turning them over. This approach doesn’t have a fixed method – you can just slowly flip over the card in any way you want.
- Dealer-led peel: In some instances, dealers use card bending to build up tension by only revealing a part of their rank. For example, if they bend a side of the card carefully enough, you’ll only be able to see a few of the card pips. For instance, if there are only 2 pips on a side, players will know that the card is either a 4 or a 5 without knowing which one it is. This gives them a vague idea of the final result, but not the full picture, which adds to the excitement. Here’s how to know the rank of a card after only seeing one column of pips:
- Two pips – 4 or 5
- Three pips – 6, 7, or 8
- Four pips – 9 or 10
Why Bending Never Affects the Odds
As we’ve already mentioned, bending the cards does not increase the chances of any particular outcome. To explain why, we only have to use a little common sense.
Players and dealers can only bend cards after they’ve already been dealt. This means that the deck has already been shuffled and cut, cards have been burned, and they’re already lying face-down on the table.
By the time you even get a chance to bend cards, the cards – and thus the outcome of the round – have already been decided. You can do whatever you want with them at that point, and their rank doesn’t change, which means the relative value of Player and Banker cards does not change.
This is true even for cards drawn due to third-card rules. Even in extremely lenient casino tables, you can only touch and bend cards that are already on the table. In other words, any additional cards that the dealer will draw will be the same, no matter what.
The odds of baccarat remain the same even if you bend cards:
- Player bets statistically win 44.6% of all rounds and pay 1:1, which adds up to an RTP rate of 98.76%.
- Banker bets win 44.8% of all rounds and typically pay 0.95:1, after accounting for the standard 5% commission. This indicates a consistent RTP rate of 98.84%.
- Tie bets win 9.6% of all rounds and usually pay 8:1, which gives them a poor RTP rate of only 85.64%.
If you want more information about baccarat odds, check out our strategy guide.
We should also mention that there are actual ways to affect the odds in baccarat.
The most reliable method is baccarat card counting, which can help you decrease the house advantage by keeping track of the cards. You can also use our baccarat calculator to help you with that.
Edge sorting is another technique worth mentioning, though it can safely be described as cheating. It’s also not a very viable strategy in this day and age.
Casino Rules Around the World
On most casino tables, the players are generally not allowed to touch any cards that the dealer handles. In modern casino baccarat, that covers pretty much every card on the table.
With that in mind, some of you are probably asking whether players are allowed to bend cards in the first place.
Unfortunately, there’s no straight answer. It’s allowed on some tables, while some casinos expressly forbid the practice. This depends on a variety of factors:
- Region – Bending cards is a lot more acceptable in some parts of the world than in others. For example, casinos in Macau allow players to crumple, squeeze, and even tear the cards any way they want. Conversely, casinos in Vegas may not even let you touch them.
- Card expendability – Some casinos throw away the used cards after every game of baccarat. They typically use cheap, expendable cards for this exact purpose. Such venues are often a lot more lenient in terms of what you can do with the cards themselves, which often includes tearing or damaging them.
- Table limits – Players at high-limit tables are often allowed a lot more freedom than players at low-limit tables, for obvious reasons. In some casinos, only high-rolling players may be allowed to bend the cards.
- Game format – Some baccarat tables allow players to handle cards, while others don’t. In those instances, only the dealer is allowed to bend and squeeze cards, which they might do for the purpose of showmanship.
With that in mind, the table below shows the general stance on card bending by casinos in several major regions. Note that the information is based on research and player feedback, and does not necessarily reflect the rules of every casino in every region of the world.
Region |
Typical stance on bending |
United States |
Typically, only dealers can bend cards. May be allowed on high-limit tables. |
United Kingdom |
Typically, only dealers can bend cards. May be allowed on high-limit tables. |
Europe |
Largely prohibited |
Monaco |
Allowed on high-limit tables |
Macau |
Allowed. Some casinos even allow crumpling and/or tearing. |
Southeast Asia |
Allowed. |
Australia |
Largely prohibited |
South America |
Dealer bending is allowed, but rare. |