How to play baccarat

What is baccarat?

Baccarat is a card game with only two hands on the table, whatever the number of players. One is called the Player hand and the other the Banker hand.

You are not dealt a hand of your own. You bet on which of the two hands will finish with the higher score, or that they will finish level.

Nobody decides how the cards are drawn. Both hands follow fixed rules, so the whole round runs itself once the bets are down.

This guide describes the eight-deck game with a 5% commission on winning Banker bets, Player paying 1:1 and Tie paying 8:1.

Player, Banker and Tie

Player and Banker are the names of the two hands. They do not describe you and the casino, and betting on Banker does not put you on the casino's side.

A Player bet wins when the Player hand scores higher, and pays 1:1.

A Banker bet wins when the Banker hand scores higher. It also pays 1:1, but 5% of the winnings is taken as commission.

A Tie bet wins only when both hands finish on the same score, and pays 8:1. When the round ties, Player and Banker bets are neither won nor lost, so those stakes are returned.

Card values and hand totals

Aces count one. Cards from 2 to 9 count their face value. Tens, jacks, queens and kings count zero.

A hand score is the last digit of the total, so nothing can go above nine.

A hand of 8 and 7 totals 15, so the point count is 5. Dropping the leading digit is the whole of baccarat scoring; a hand never busts.

Two cards of 8 and 7 make 15, and the score is 5. A hand of 9 and 3 makes 12, and the score is 2.

How a round works

You place a bet on Player, on Banker or on Tie.

Two cards go to the Player hand and two to the Banker hand, and both are turned face up.

A score of 8 or 9 on those first two cards is called a natural. When either hand has one, the round stops immediately and no third card is dealt to either hand.

Otherwise the drawing rules decide whether one hand, both or neither takes a third card. No hand ever receives more than three cards.

The higher score then wins, and the bets are settled.

When a third card is drawn

The rules below apply only after both hands have been checked for a natural.

The Player hand goes first. It draws a third card on a score of 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7.

If the Player hand stands, the Banker hand draws on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7.

If the Player hand drew, whether the Banker draws depends on the Banker score and on the value of the card the Player just took:

Banker total	Draw when the Player's third card is
0, 1 or 2	Any value
3	Any value except 8
4	2 to 7
5	4 to 7
6	6 or 7
7	Never

In every case the table does not list, the Banker stands.

Worked rounds

In the first round, the Player hand is 7 and 2, which totals 9. The Banker hand is 3 and 4, which totals 7.

Nine is a natural, so no third card is dealt to either hand. Player wins with 9 against 7.

In the second round, the Player hand is 2 and 3, a score of 5, and the Banker hand is an ace and a 3, a score of 4. Neither is a natural.

The Player hand draws on 5 and receives a 6, so its total becomes 11 and its score drops to 1.

The Banker hand holds 4, and the table above says a Banker 4 draws when the Player's third card is 2 to 7. The card was a 6, so the Banker draws and receives a 4, finishing on 8.

Banker wins with 8 against 1.

Payouts and house edge

A winning Player bet pays 1:1. A 100-unit bet earns 100 units.

A winning Banker bet also pays 1:1, less the 5% commission on the amount won. A 100-unit bet therefore earns 95 units, and 195 units come back to you including the stake.

A winning Tie bet pays 8:1. On a tie, Player and Banker bets push and those stakes are returned.

With eight decks and the payouts above, the long-run cost of each bet is about 1.06% of the amount staked on Banker, about 1.24% on Player and about 14.36% on Tie.

Banker has the lowest figure of the three, and that is still a loss over time rather than an advantage. A lower house edge means money is expected to drain away more slowly, not that a session will end in profit.

Rules that differ in other versions

The figures on this page apply to the game described here: eight decks, Player at 1:1, Banker at 1:1 less 5% commission and Tie at 8:1.

Tables with a different number of decks, a different commission arrangement or a different Tie payout need their own calculations, so read the table sign before applying anything above.