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How to play baccarat online and baccarat rules

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Checked by Ramona D.Melanie H.

Despite being one of the most famous casino games, surprisingly few people know how to play baccarat once they’re seated at the table.

If you want to learn how to play baccarat like a pro, read on. We’ve set up a guide with all the info; with everything from card values to the different bets you can place clearly explained.

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Learn how to play baccarat with these sites

Each baccarat casino in the above list has been chosen because of its number of baccarat games, its online casino bonus, the different types of baccarat games offered, and whether you can get your baccarat fix on the go.

Most of them also offer demo games where you can practice playing baccarat for free. Some will also offer a no-deposit bonus such as freeplay bonus. 

How baccarat works

Baccarat does give you more control than most casino games; however, in essence, it’s a guessing game. The player must bet on whether their hand or the banker’s hand is the winning hand. The winner is the one who gets the highest number of points out of nine. You can also bet on a tie, though it’s long odds. 

Card values

While baccarat uses around eight decks of cards for its standard games, the cards are the normal cards you would find in any standard pack. However, for the purposes of how baccarat works, some cards take different values. Here is a breakdown of what each card is worth in the baccarat world:

  • Cards between 2 and 9 keep their value – therefore, 2 remains 2, 3 remains 3 etc.
  • The 10 and Jack, Queen, and King cards have 0 value
  • Aces have a value of 1

How to play baccarat card game — basic rules

Baccarat rules aren’t all that hard to follow. Here are the basic baccarat tips you need to follow to get set up.

Hand placing bets with chips
1

Place a bet

Betting takes place on one of two hands: the banker’s hand or a player’s hand. The bets must be made before cards are dealt. You can play either the table game version or live baccarat games. 

Hand holding baccarat cards
2

Deal the cards

Two cards are dealt to both the banker and the player. The dealer taking care of the cards takes one card out and puts it face up in the player’s box on the table. The next card is placed in the banker’s box. The dealer then deals another card to the player and a further card to the banker. Now, you each have 2 cards.

Hand showing baccarat rules
3

Player’s rules

Look at the point totals and see if the player should get another card (the player hand goes first). If the player gets 8 or 9, they will get no extra cards. The player should stand on totals of 6 or 7. The player will draw a third card if the total is anything from 0-5. If the banker has 8 or 9, the bank hand wins. If there is a tie, no one wins.

Phone showing baccarat dealer
4

Banker’s rules

The banker must stand if the banker’s first two cards total 7 or more. If the banker’s first two cards total 0, 1, or 2, the banker must take a further card. If the banker’s first two cards total 3, 4, 5, or 6, then whether the banker should take a further card or not is decided by whether the player had draw and the value of the card the player drew.

Cards showing good baccarat scores
5

Results and scores above 9

The winner is the person who gets closest to a total amount of 9. If the player’s cards or the bankers cards bring them to a total of higher than 9, their count ‘resets’ to 0, with the remainder above 9 being their score. This is the most confusing part of baccarat, so we’ll explain it with examples. If you have a 4 and a 5, that’s a 9. If you have two 5’s, that adds up to 10, so it’s a 0. If you have an 8 and a 7, that rests to 0, but continues going up to 5, since 7+8 = 15. In essence, the trick is to always drop the left digit when your score is over 9. Two 9’s make 18, so it’s an 8. Three 7’s make 21, so it’s a 1. 

The third card — additional rules (when to hit / stand)

When it comes to how baccarat works, it’s the third card that can make or break a player once the initial two cards have been distributed. We have put together a detailed baccarat rules chart to illustrate when you should hit (get another card) or stand. This should help you when it comes to deciding what to do with your third card.

Banker’s TotalPlayer’s Card
0123456789
7StandStandStandStandStandStandStandStandStandStand
6StandStandStandStandStandStandHitHitStandStand
5StandStandStandStandHitHitHitHitStandStand
4StandStandHitHitHitHitHitHitStandStand
3HitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitStandHit
2HitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitHit
1HitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitHit
0HitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitHit

Baccarat table layout

If you’ve never sat at a baccarat table, you’ve probably seen it in movies. The table diagram shows how the table physically looks and the different areas and what they mean. Of course, it can change a little according to the particular variant of baccarat being palyed, so let’s go over those differences now: 

How To Play Baccarat

Mini baccarat

At first glance, the mini baccarat table looks more like a blackjack table. It has one dealer and around 7 seats for players. The dealer runs the game, and each player must bet on the banker, player, or tie by putting their chips in the table box that has been assigned to them. The dealer then deals 2 sets of cards – one representing the player and the other the banker. Each casino has different rules about third hand draws. As soon as each player’s total is calculated, the dealer will rake in the losers’ chips. Because of its simplicity, this table is usually used in online casinos.

Midi baccarat

Midi baccarat rules are identical to the ones used for mini baccarat; however, instead of the dealer dealing the cards face up, they deal the 4 cards face down and give the player cards to the player that has bet the most at the table, and the banker cards to the player with the highest banker bet. These 2 players are then given the option of playing the hands without showing them till it’s time for the big reveal. The other players at the table have to wait and see if the player representing their bet has been successful or not. This makes the game run a lot slower.

Big baccarat

The big baccarat table is almost a full circle in shape. It’s big enough to allow 12 – 14 players. Due to the table size, there are usually 2 dealers instead of 1. There is often also a caller who will lead the game. Not many casinos will have a big baccarat table on show; you can generally find them in VIP areas. Everything else about the game is the same as on a mini baccarat table.

Baccarat bets explained — our recommendations

Unlike table game favorite blackjack, there are three main baccarat bets that you can make, not including side bets. These bet types do not only utilize different areas of the baccarat table to be played, but they also offer different payouts. Let’s take a closer look at each one of them below.

 

  • Jackpot

    The banker bet

    The banker bet is considered one of the best bets to make as it has the lowest house edge. It’s more likely to win than the player’s hand, since dealer auto-wins when totalling at an 8 or 9 on the first draw.  There is a catch, though – because it is so favorable for players, casinos get around 5% in commission when there is a win. With a house edge of 1.06% and the fact that winning bets pay off 1:1, this remains the best bet to make.

  • Jackpot

    The player bet

    The player bet is the second favorite bet to make. It is more favorable than the tie bet but still not as good a deal as the banker bet. Because of this, there is no commission when this bet wins. This bet also pays 1:1.

  • Jackpot

    The tie bet

    The tie bet is the least favourable out of all three main bets, even though the payout is far better than you would get for the other two. The problem with betting on a tie between the two players (that they will both hit the same amount) is that the odds are very much against you. Not many people usually take on this bet because it is the riskiest and the least rewarding.

  • Jackpot

    The side bets

    Baccarat side bets vary from casino to casino, and not everyone offers them. They go beyond the banker bet, player bet, and tie bet. One of the most popular side bets is the all red or all black side bet, where you place a bet that all the cards in the player’s hand will either be all red or all black. The payout of getting an all red bet hand is 22: 1, and the all black payout is usually 24:1. Always check the odds and payouts before making a side bet.

How to play casino baccarat and make money

While many people love to play at casinos for the love of the game, even more go because they want to score some cash. Note that winning is never guaranteed, and that casinos are designed to make more profit than they lose; so be careful. With that said, we have compiled a list of tips and tricks to help you hold onto your winnings while still following the baccarat rules.

  1. Bet with the banker – As we’ve spoken about in the previous section, the banker bet is the best bet to go with. Given that the banker will win slightly over 50% every time, it’s usually worth that 5% commission you have to dish out.
  2. Avoid making the tie bet – The tie bet has a house edge of 14.4% to the banker house edge of 1.06%. You hardly need to be Einstein to figure out what this means for you and your pocket.
  3.  Miss a turn when the bank loses – When the bank loses to a player, don’t bet on the turn right after. Miss a turn and take a note if that round is a win for the bank or the player. Then, take advantage of that streak and bet the same as the outcome.
  4.  Avoid mini baccarat – Although the minimum bets are lower in mini baccarat, the game is extremely fast-paced and revolves around the dealer. The number of decisions the dealer has to make will greatly impact your bankroll very quickly – and not always in the best way. In this case, longer and slower is definitely better.

 

FAQs

How do you play online baccarat?

Online baccarat is played the same way as in a physical casino. In this guide, you can learn how to play baccarat and then visit any one of our best baccarat online casinos and play.

What are the baccarat rules?

Baccarat is a structured game. We have made a list of basic rules you can easily follow to get started. We even have a baccarat rules chart to help you decide what to do with your third hand.

How do I make baccarat bets?

Unlike blackjack, baccarat does not have a huge amount of bets. The basic bets are the banker bet, the player bet, and the tie bet. We cover all these bets in detail in our baccarat bets explained section.

How can I play baccarat for real money?

When you learn how to play baccarat, there are several things that you can do to make sure that you make real money and hold onto it. Our section about how to play casino baccarat and make money has a number of tips that you can follow.

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