How to Play Baccarat Online

Basic Rules of Baccarat

The most common version of Baccarat is Punto Banco, so we’ll focus on that to start with. We can then delve into some more niche Baccarat variations later.

The overall rules of Baccarat make it a straightforward contest between two hands—known as the ‘Player’ and ‘Banker’ You win by correctly betting on which will finish closest to 9. 

It is important to know that in Baccarat rules the terms ‘Player’ and ‘Banker’ do not refer to specific people, but to the hands themselves. You are not the ‘Player’, and the casino is not the ‘Banker’. These are general terms used to present two different hands and you are free to bet on either side.

When playing Baccarat, you are therefore not drawing cards, making decisions or playing against the dealer, you are simply betting on an outcome. In very basic terms its like betting on a coin flip.

How does Baccarat work?

There are only three possible outcomes in Baccarat: Player wins, Banker wins, or Tie. Most players bet on either player or banker, because the odds of winning the tie bet winning are so low.

The game begins with players deciding which bet(s) to place. Once players place their bets, the dealer deals two cards for the Player and two for the Banker. The cards are then revealed, leading to four possible outcomes:

• There is a clear winner (a tie or a natural 8 or 9)
• The player needs a third card
• The banker needs a third card
• Both the player and banker need a third card

The decision on whether a third card is needed is not decided by you or the dealer. It is predetermined by Baccarat rules based on the values of the dealt cards. We’ll go into this in more detail below.

Once a winner has been established (either player, banker or tie), the dealer pays out on all winning bets and the game starts again. Now, lets take a look at the Baccarat rules for card values.

Baccarat Card Values

You could say that Baccarat resembles Blackjack because both games revolve around hitting an optimal score – 21 in Blackjack, 9 in Baccarat. However, the games have fundamental differences, the main one being the card values. 

In Baccarat, the dealer generally uses six or eight decks of cards and places them in a shoe, a device that holds multiple decks of shuffled cards. The game uses all cards except jokers, with the following values

• Numbers 2 to 9 – their face value – 2 to 9 points
• 10, Jack, Queen and King – 0 points
• Aces – 1 point

Another difference is that it is not possible to ‘bust’ in Baccarat. When the cards add up to more than nine points, you deduct ten points from the total to keep the score between zero and eight.

Some examples of this are below:

• 5 and a 6, for a total of 11 points, counts as a score of 1
• Jack and a 4, for a total of 14 points, counts as a score of 4
• Ace and a 7, for a total of 8 points, counts as a score of 8

Rules for the Third Card in Baccarat

Many Baccarat games only require the initial four card deal – two for player and two for banker. If either hand totals an 8 or 9, this is called a ‘natural’ and usually the game ends immediately. If one has an 8 and the other a 9, then the hand with the 9 will win as this is the target.

However, often a third card is needed to determine a winner. In some cases, two ‘third cards’ are needed. This is determined by the rules of Baccarat which are summarised below.

Player Hand Rules

• 8 or 9 points, this is called a ‘natural’ and the game ends immediately.
• 6 or 7 points, player must stand and doesn’t receive a third card
• 0-5 points, player gets a third card

Banker Hand Rules

For the banker hand, the rules can be a bit more elaborate. The first thing to look at is what the player has done. If the player has not received a third card, the same rules apply to the banker as to the player. 

If the player has been dealt a third card, the rules look a lot more complicated:

• 7 – 9 points: No third card, bank stands or has a natural
• 6 points: only if the player’s third card was a 6 or 7
• 5 points: if the players third card was 4, 5, 6, or 7
• 4 points: if the players third card was 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7
• 3 points: if the players third card was not an 8.
• 0 – 2 points: Banker always gets a third card.

The chart below shows this information much more clearly:

The important thing to remember in Baccarat is that the only decision you have to make is whether you bet on the player, the banker or the tie. You don’t have to beat the dealer and you don’t choose whether to take a third card or not. The rules of Baccarat determine all of these factors.

How to Bet on Baccarat

Now, lets look at how to play Baccarat from a practical point of view with table layouts, bet options and odds.

Baccarat Table Layout

Casinos set up original Baccarat tables to seat 14 players with multiple dealers. However, they usually use half-size tables with a handful of bettors and one dealer. Much like a Blackjack table.

What you will immediately notice are the numbered boxes and three betting fields per bettor. The numbers on the table do not play a role in the game, they just indicate the number of seats.

The image below shows the three betting fields marked for each possible outcome: player win, banker win, or tie, sometimes displayed as Punto, Banco, or Égalité. In addition, there is a ‘commission box’ but we will discuss that later in the bets, as well as possible fields for side bets.

As you can see in the image above, players 1, 2 and 4 have bet on the tie, player 3 has bet on the banker and player 5 has bet on the player. In this way Baccarat betting is similar to Roulette, in that you place your bets on the section of the board you think will win.

Baccarat Odds and House Edge

The two most popular bets in Baccarat are player and banker. Both have a payout of 1:1 but that doesn’t mean they have an equal chance of winning. In reality, the Baccarat banker hand has a slightly higher probability of winning and a lower house edge. That is because it plays last and the value of the player hand determines its rules.

Overall if you’re looking for a casino game with a low house edge, then Baccarat is a great option. And, generally, the banker bet is the choice of most seasoned Baccarat players. The banker bet has odds of 45.86% and a house edge of only 1.06%, meanwhile the player bet has odds of 44.62% and a house edge of 1.24%.

Baccarat Commission

One thing to be aware of is that the banker hand is such a good bet that casinos often make their money by charging 5% commission on every winning banker bet. In most games, if commission applies, the casino adds it up as you play and deducts it before you exit the game. However, there are exceptions to look out for such as commission-free Baccarat.

For more details on Baccarat odds, payouts and the different side bets that are available click on the links below.