Baccarat Tournaments - Input Please

My question is based on the following facts:
1. Casino holds frequent weekly sometimes biweekly baccarat tournaments with about 100 competitors
2. Each player is given $1,000 in fake play chips
3. Every 30 minutes players fill up 2-3 tables and are dealt only 20 hands, once hands are played, another group comes in to play, and so on until all have played.
4.. There is no round robin where winner of a table plays against other table winners.
5. At end of day, whoever ends up with the highest win amount is "rewarded" with that much in cash.
6. Normal baccarat rules and payouts except no banker commission
7. Seems like I can usually win my table with a $5-8000 win. But that isn't enough.
8. Casino staff tells me that the 1 overall winner usually has about a $25,000 win.
My question: Are there any tips on how I can win? Is there a particular betting/money management methodology that works best with this short 20 hand run scenario? Any input is appreciated!

Can you get a good look at the other tables? I'd say that you would want to Max Bet Banker in the early going, but if you see someone has more chips than you, eventually you'd have to start throwing Hail Mary's on Tie...If they are ahead of you and mirror your Tie Bets, though, it's over because you can no longer beat that person.

If this is the format I can almost guarantee there is collusion- I played in a weekly tournament like this four people sat at the table pushed all in 2 banker two player- so after one hand two have 2 k. Next hand same thing now one left with 4K , he plays three hands after that , all in all three times 4K becomes 8 8 becomes 16 160 becomes thirty two. And you quit. 1 out of 8 times you win - not to mention it's less then that because they weren't charging commission so banker was clearly the best bet. I mayor may not have been part of that play in full disclosure

Wizard of Nothing - You are RIGHT!!! I made it a point to really watch all games and all players from beginning to end. Easy to do as only had 2 tables with 8 people at a table. I was looking for people at same table who bet as you suggested. I notice one table with 6 people following that method with 2 going in big at once and the other 4 only small minimum bet for first hand, repeating this method til 1 left with big big win. Later on I looked for these people in casino (small Louisiana one). And guess what?!! Yep, I saw 4 of them sitting together at bar later on -coincidence ? - I think not!! You know, the pot was around $22,000 and you divide that by 6, well not too bad a pay out for only playing 20 hands of bac. I mentioned this to a pit boss I'm friendly with and he says it happens all the time on so many tournements. Well at least I know I don't stand a chance to win and won't waste my time. Now I wonder if they can rig slot tournaments??? Tks for your input.

Wizard of Nothing - You are RIGHT!!! I made it a point to really watch all games and all players from beginning to end. Easy to do as only had 2 tables with 8 people at a table. I was looking for people at same table who bet as you suggested. I notice one table with 6 people following that method with 2 going in big at once and the other 4 only small minimum bet for first hand, repeating this method til 1 left with big big win. Later on I looked for these people in casino (small Louisiana one). And guess what?!! Yep, I saw 4 of them sitting together at bar later on -coincidence ? - I think not!! You know, the pot was around $22,000 and you divide that by 6, well not too bad a pay out for only playing 20 hands of bac. I mentioned this to a pit boss I'm friendly with and he says it happens all the time on so many tournaments. Well at least I know I don't stand a chance to win and won't waste my time. Now I wonder if they can rig slot tournaments??? Tks for your input.

No problem, I've been around the block once or twice .