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.

Baccarat is a straightforward contest between two hands: the ‘Player’ and the ‘Banker’. You win by correctly betting on which hand will finish closest to 9. 

It is vital to remember that in Baccarat 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?

The baccarat objective is simply to bet on the winning hand. 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 are so low.

The game begins with players deciding which of the three 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 the winning hand has been established (either player, banker or tie), the dealer pays to all players who bet on the winning outcome and the game starts again. Now, lets take a look at the Baccarat rules for card values.

Baccarat Card Values

If you’re still wondering, ‘how does baccarat work?’ well you could say that Baccarat resembles Blackjack in that both games revolve around hitting an optimal score. Everyone knows the optimum score in Blackjack is 21, but in Baccarat the optimum score is 9. One of the fundamental differences between the two games is 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

This is one of the areas that causes the most confusion and that beginners consistently get wrong. In Blackjack 10 is worth 10, while in Baccarat 10 is worth zero. In Blackjack, an Ace can be 1 or 11, in Baccarat Ace is always 1.

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 nine.

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: A third card is given only if the player’s third card was a 6 or 7
• 5 points: A third card is given if the players third card was 4, 5, 6, or 7
• 4 points: A third card is given if the players third card was 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7
• 3 points: A third card is given 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:

Expert Top Tip

The only decision you have to make in Baccarat is whether to bet on the Banker, The Player or the Tie. Don’t get too bogged down with understanding the third card rule, unlike Blackjack, the rules of the game decide if a third card is needed, not you.

How to Bet on Baccarat

Original Baccarat tables sit 14 players with multiple dealers. However, they can also be set up as half tables for 7 players, which is often referred to as Mini-Baccarat. This requires just 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, seat 1, seat 2 etc.

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 the image above:

• Players 1 and 5 have bet on the Player
• Players 2 and 4 have bet on the Banker
• Player 3 has bet on the Tie

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. Always check what the minimum bet is before you play the game. Online minimum bets will start from 10p or 20p but real life casinos will often have a £1 or £5 minimum bet level.

Once every player has placed their bets, the cards will be dealt. The dealer, also known as the Croupier or Caller, will then announce the cards, confirm the outcome, apply the third card rule correctly and pay out the winners. Once you’ve placed your bet, there’s nothing for you to do other that watch the result unfold.

Baccarat Odds and House Edge Explained

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%

♣️The player bet has odds of 44.62% and a house edge of 1.24%.

♣️The tie bet has odds of 9.52% and a house edge of 14.36%.

The tie bet is therefore the riskiest bet to take, while the banker bet is the safest.

Expert Top Tip

Always Bet on the Banker!

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.

Even taking this into consideration, the Banker bet is still regarded as the most profitable choice. More advanced Baccarat players search specifically for commission-free Baccarat or no commission Baccarat to try to eliminate this fee.

Just be aware that if you find no commission Baccarat, some game rules might be slightly different to compensate so always check the game information tab.