How to play baccarat: the simple guide for beginners

Baccarat is a card game in which you bet on which of the 2 hands, the Player or the Banker, will be closer to 9. You don’t make decisions during the round: you only choose what you bet on, and the cards are dealt by fixed rules. For that reason, baccarat is one of the easiest casino games to learn.

What baccarat is

Baccarat is usually played with 6 or 8 decks of cards. In each round, 2 hands are dealt: one for the Player and one for the Banker. The names have nothing to do with you or the casino, they’re just the names of the 2 hands.

You don’t play the hand, you only bet on the outcome. You can choose for the Player to win, for the Banker to win, or for the result to be a tie.

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Card values

In baccarat, the cards have the following values:

• The ace: 1 point.
• Cards from 2 to 9: The value written on them.
• 10, jack, queen and king: 0 points.

The value of a hand is the last digit of the sum of the cards. For example, a 7 and an 8 make 15, so the hand is worth 5. A 9 and a 6 also make 15, so also 5. A hand can have at most 9 points.

If the first 2 cards of a hand make 8 or 9, the hand is called a “natural”. In that case, no more cards are dealt and the round ends.

How a round plays out

1. You place your bet on Player, Banker or Tie.
2. 2 cards each are dealt to the Player and the Banker.
3. It’s checked whether there’s a natural hand, meaning 8 or 9. If so, the round ends.
4. A 3rd card is dealt, if applicable, according to the rules below.
5. The hand with the higher value wins.

All the dealing is done automatically, either by the dealer or by the game. Unlike blackjack, you don’t have to choose whether or not to take a card.

The third-card rule

This is the only slightly more complicated part of baccarat. You don’t have to know it by heart, because the game applies it on its own, but it helps you understand what’s happening at the table.

• With 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 points, it receives a 3rd card.
• With 6 or 7 points, it stays with its 2 cards.

If the Player stayed with 2 cards, the Banker follows the same rule: it draws a card with 0-5 points and stays with 6 or 7.

If the Player received a 3rd card, the Banker decides based on its own score and on the card the Player received:

• With 0, 1 or 2 points: Always draws a card.
• With 3 points: Draws a card, except when the Player’s 3rd card is an 8.
• With 4 points: Draws a card if the Player’s 3rd card is between 2 and 7.
• With 5 points: Draws a card if the Player’s 3rd card is between 4 and 7.
• With 6 points: Draws a card if the Player’s 3rd card is 6 or 7.
• With 7 points: Doesn’t draw a card.

The bets and the payouts

• On the Player: Pays 1 to 1. If you put down 10 lei and the Player wins, you receive 20 lei, meaning your stake plus 10 lei.
• On the Banker: Also pays 1 to 1, but the casino keeps a commission of 5% of the winnings. On a 10 lei stake, the winnings are 9.50 lei.
• Tie: Usually pays 8 to 1. On a tie, the bets on the Player and the Banker aren’t lost, they’re returned to you.

Many tables also have side bets, for example, on a pair in the first 2 cards of the Player or the Banker. They pay more, but come up much more rarely.

The house edge on each bet

1. Banker: About 1.06%, even after the commission.
2. Player: About 1.24%.
3. Tie: About 14.4%, at the 8 to 1 payout.

The Banker wins slightly more often than the Player, because of the third-card rule. That’s why the casino keeps the 5% commission on this bet. The Tie pays a lot, but has the biggest house edge of all the bets at the table.

One of the common mistakes among new players is to bet constantly on the tie because of the high payout. We’ve written about other mistakes of this kind in the guide on the common mistakes of beginners.

Baccarat variants

The basic rules stay the same, but the variants differ in pace and in the way some bets are paid:

• Punto Banco: The classic variant, the one described in this guide. It’s the most played in casinos.
• Mini Baccarat: The same rules, but with a smaller table, smaller stakes and a faster pace.
• Speed Baccarat: The rounds take less time, usually around 30 seconds.
• No-commission baccarat: The 5% commission on the Banker isn’t kept, but if the Banker wins with 6 points, the payout drops to half the stake.
• Squeeze Baccarat: The cards are revealed slowly, one by one, which makes the round longer.

The variants with a real dealer are played in the live casino section, where the cards are dealt live, from a studio.

Conclusion

Baccarat has few rules: you choose which hand you bet on, the cards are dealt automatically, and the hand closest to 9 wins. The third-card rule seems complicated, but the game applies it on its own.

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Frequently asked questions

1. What is the goal of the game of baccarat?

You bet on the hand that will have the value closer to 9: the Player or the Banker. You can also bet on a tie.

2. How much are the cards worth in baccarat?

The ace is worth 1 point, cards from 2 to 9 the value written on them, and 10, jack, queen and king are worth 0.

3. Why is a commission kept on the Banker bet?

Because the Banker wins slightly more often than the Player, due to the third-card rule. The 5% commission balances out this difference.

4. What happens to my bet if it’s a tie?

If you bet on the Player or the Banker, your stake is returned to you. If you bet on the tie, you usually receive 8 times your stake.

5. Do I have to make decisions during the round?

No. You only choose the bet before the cards are dealt. The rest of the round plays out automatically, by fixed rules.