Baccarat is among the easiest casino card games to sit down to. You make no in-hand decisions at all; your only call is whether to back the Player, the Banker or a Tie.
Where the house edge actually sits
High-rollers love baccarat for one plain reason: the house edge is slim. On a standard table the Banker bet runs roughly 1.06%, the Player bet about 1.24%, while the Tie bet — at 8 to 1 — sits around 14%.
That is why a Banker win usually pays a touch under even money: a commission, often 5%, is taken off it. Knowing these figures is about as close as baccarat gets to a strategy.
How a round of baccarat is dealt
- Bet on Player, Banker or Tie.
- Two hands of two or three cards are dealt according to fixed rules.
- Cards score at face value, while tens and picture cards count as 0.
- Whichever hand lands closest to 9 wins.
How a hand is scored
Each hand opens with two cards and counts only the last digit of their total. A 7 and an 8 add up to 15, so that hand is worth 5. A king and a 9 come to 9, the highest score going. Nobody ever busts in baccarat.
If either hand reaches 8 or 9 on its first two cards, that is a natural: both hands stand and the round ends there. Otherwise, the third-card rules in the chart below take over.
Baccarat rules chart
Drawing is never your decision. The dealer follows this table every single time, so your only choice is Player, Banker or Tie before any card is dealt.
A few simple habits at the table
Check what the table pays on the Banker and Tie bets before you sit down — those payouts are what really set each option’s value.
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Frequently asked questions
Why does a Banker win pay less than 1:1?
The Banker hand comes in slightly more often, so tables skim a small commission off Banker wins to keep things balanced.
How much is a king worth in baccarat?
Nothing. Tens and picture cards count as 0, an ace counts as 1, and every other card counts at face value.
How often does a tie happen in baccarat?
Roughly once in every ten or eleven hands using eight decks. At 8 to 1, that is simply too rare to make the tie bet worthwhile.
