Baccarat (Punto Banco) is a casino table game where you bet on which of two hands, Player or Banker, comes closer to 9. Player and Banker are the names of the bets, not of a player or the dealer.
Whether a third card is drawn follows fixed rules. The only choice you make is what to bet on.
How a round goes
- Bet on Player, Banker or Tie. Side bets such as Pair are optional
- Two cards each are dealt, in the order Player, Banker, Player, Banker
- Each hand’s points are counted
- If either hand has 8 or 9, it is a Natural. Neither hand draws, and the hands are compared
- Otherwise, a third card is drawn by the rules below
- The hand closer to 9 wins. If the points are equal, it is a Tie
Cards count as follows. Only the last digit of the total matters.
| Card | Points |
|---|---|
| A | 1 |
| 2 to 9 | Face value |
| 10, J, Q, K | 0 |
Example. 9 and 7 make 16, so the hand is worth 6. K and 8 make 8, a Natural.
The game is usually dealt from an 8-deck shoe.
The third-card rule
Player draws on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7.
When Player stands, Banker draws on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7. When Player draws a third card, Banker’s total and the value of Player’s third card decide.
| Banker’s total | Banker draws when Player’s third card is |
|---|---|
| 0, 1, 2 | Always |
| 3 | Anything but 8 |
| 4 | 2 to 7 |
| 5 | 4 to 7 |
| 6 | 6 or 7 |
| 7 | Never (stands) |
Example. Player has 3 and 2, which is 5, so Player draws and gets an 8. The total is 3. Banker has K and 6, which is 6. With Player’s third card an 8, Banker stands on 6. Banker wins, 6 to 3.
You don’t need to memorize this chart. The dealer applies the rules.
The bets, their payouts and house edge
Figures for a standard 8-deck table. A 5% commission is taken from Banker wins.
| Bet | Pays | Chance to win | House edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banker | 0.95:1 | 45.86% | 1.06% |
| Player | 1:1 | 44.62% | 1.24% |
| Tie | 8:1 | 9.52% | 14.36% |
| Player Pair, Banker Pair | 11:1 | 7.47% | 10.36% |
Example. On a bet of 100, a Banker win pays 95, a Player win pays 100, and a Tie pays 800.
On a Tie, bets on Banker and Player are returned. A Pair is when the first two cards have the same rank (K and K, for example. K and Q are not a Pair).
The house edge is the casino’s average share of the amount you bet. On any bet, the longer you play, the more you lose this share of what you bet, on average. The unrounded figures (Banker 1.058%, Player 1.235%) and how they were checked are on the verification page.
Tables without a commission
Some tables take the commission differently.
| Rules | A Banker win | Banker house edge |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 0.95:1 (5% commission) | 1.06% |
| EZ Baccarat | 1:1 (no commission). A Banker win with a three-card 7 is a push | 1.02% |
| No Commission | 1:1 (no commission). A Banker win with 6 pays half (0.5:1) | 1.46% |
EZ Baccarat has two side bets. Dragon 7 (Banker wins with a three-card 7) pays 40 to 1 with a 7.61% house edge, and Panda 8 (Player wins with a three-card 8) pays 25 to 1 with 10.19%.
Practice with these rules
Baccarat in Casino Edge can be played one round at a time at the table, with Standard, EZ Baccarat or No Commission rules. Each betting spot shows its chance to win, payout and house edge, and you can check why a third card was drawn. No real money is bet.
Table etiquette
- At a small table (Mini Baccarat), the dealer turns over every card. Players don’t touch the cards
- At a large table (Big Table), the player with the biggest bet on Player and the one with the biggest bet on Banker each receive those cards, look at them and turn them face up. Peeling a card up slowly to look at it is called the squeeze. The cards are already set, so squeezing doesn’t change who wins
- Commissions are tracked with small markers and paid together at the end of the shoe
- Score cards and pencils are at the table
The rest of the table etiquette (when to buy chips, when you can touch your bet) is in the article “How to play casino table games for the first time”.
The road maps don’t tell you the next result
The road maps on the display beside the table and on the score cards record whether Player or Banker won in this shoe. The odds of each hand don’t depend on past results, so the next hand can’t be predicted.
Example. Even after Banker has won 5 times in a row, the chance that Banker wins the next hand stays at about 45.9% (counting Ties).
What changes with the rules
Payouts, the commission and the number of decks differ by table. The figures in this article are for a standard 8-deck table. Check the sign at the table and ask the dealer before you sit down.