Re: Pai Gow. What are people writing down.
Baccarat can be deallt with any number of decks, but typically is dealt from an 8-deck shoe. Since this is the case, each hand isn't independent of the others, since by removing a card from the shoe it will affect the outcome of subsequent hands. However, there is no effective way of "counting" cards in a game of baccarat. Furthermore, the players aren't writing down specific cards, but instead the overall outcome of each hand.
Basically, there is no statistical pattern that could be detected by keeping track of hands of baccarat. If that were the case, the casinos certainly wouldn't let players keep track of them with pens and paper. Blackjack counters get enough heat for simply observing what is openly observable. My guess is that they allow this in baccarat, to play into people's superstitions and anything that keeps a person at the table in a -EV game is good for the casino.
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