Baccarat game rules

Baccarat is a casino table game with simple rules and straightforward gameplay. Unlike other card games, including Blackjack and Poker, you don’t need to learn how to play your hand, nor do you need to keep an eye out on the dealer’s cards to decide on your next move.

You can learn how to play Baccarat in just a few minutes. All it takes is for you to read through this in-depth guide followed by playing a few rounds of either virtual or live Baccarat. Once you’ve done this, you’ll be playing the game like the best of them, including James Bond himself.

The first step to learning how to play Baccarat online is to understand the basic rules of the game. In this game, you’re betting on the outcome of hands that you have no control over. There’s a Banker’s hand and a Player’s hand that are in competition to win. You can bet on either hand to win, or you can bet on a tie.

The winner in Baccarat is the hand whose value is nine points, or the hand that comes closest to this number. It’s not possible to get a hand value higher than nine points.

The most complicated part of this table game is the way that card values are counted. Keep reading this how to play Baccarat guide to learn how to combine the values of two or more cards.

Baccarat table

Different Baccarat tables can accommodate between seven to 14 players. When you’re playing virtual Baccarat online it’s always just you playing alone. In Live Baccarat, other players may be at the same table, alongside the dealer. However, no matter the number of other players at the table, you’ll be betting on the same two hands.

The table that is closest to your seat holds three bet boxes. These are named Tie, Banker, and Player. You need to place your chips on either of these three boxes to place your bet.

The Baccarat online games available at Royal Panda Casino offer an intuitive and user-friendly interface. This combines real-world elements of the game with an efficient way to select the value of your chips and place your wager in just a couple of clicks or taps.

On the side of the dealer, the table offers space for the dealer to deal cards to the Banker’s and Player’s hands. Very often, the areas where these cards should be dealt are marked.

Playing Baccarat step by step

The following rules are based on the classic version of Baccarat online. This includes both virtual and live versions of the game. If you play a Baccarat variant, you might find that some of these rules differ. In such cases, you should have a look at the game’s rules to understand the gameplay and available wagers.

The following is a tutorial to teach you how to play Baccarat:

1. At the start of the game, you need to place your wager on either the Banker, the Player, or the Tie bet boxes. You can place multiple wagers on different boxes if you’d like.
2. Once all bets have been placed and betting time is over, the dealer will deal four cards, facing up. Two of these cards are dealt to the Banker and two to the Player.
3. The cards of each hand are counted and the winner is determined. In some instances, a third card would first need to be dealt.
4. Bets backing the winning hand are paid out. If the Banker wins, a 5% commission is withheld from all winning bets.

When is a third card dealt in Baccarat?

There are certain instances where a third card is dealt to either the Player, the Banker, or both. This happens when one of the following conditions is met:

• The Player’s hand has a value of five or less. If the value of the Player’s hand is six or higher then no third card is dealt.

• If the Player has not gotten a third card, the Banker’s hand is dealt a third card only if the value of the hand is five or less.

• Should the Player receive a third card, the banker will also receive a third card if any of the following conditions apply:

  • The hand has a value of two or less.
  • The hand has a value of three, a third card is drawn unless the Player’s third card is an 8.
  • The hand has a value of four, a third card is drawn unless the Player’s third card is a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7.
  • The hand has a value of five, a third card is drawn unless the Player’s third card is a 4, 5, 6, or 7.
  • The hand has a value of six, a third card is drawn unless the Player’s third card is a 6 or 7.

How to work out the value of a hand?

The card values in Baccarat can be confusing at first since they’re different from Blackjack and other card games. In this casino table game, the 9 holds the highest value. The 10, J, Q, and K have absolutely no value. Aces have a value of one point, whereas the rest of the number cards retain their face value.

When the two cards in each hand are added together, it’s not the total value that counts. Instead, it’s only the single digit on the right-hand side of the number that is considered. The best way to understand how to play Baccarat card values is through examples.

Baccarat hand value examples

Let’s imagine that a hand was dealt a 2 and a 3. These combine for a total value of five. Simple enough.

Now let’s take another Baccarat online example. This time, the cards that are dealt to a hand are a 6 and a 7. When these are added together, their value is 13. However, in this game, only single-digit points are considered. We must, therefore, look at the right-hand number, 3, and consider this as being the value of the hand.

An important part of understanding how to play Baccarat online is realizing that in this game, lower-value cards may have a higher chance of winning.

Consider one more example where the two cards that are dealt to a hand are a 10 and a K. This hand has zero value.

Baccarat betting

When you’re wagering in Baccarat, you’ve got three possible bets. Both the Banker and the Player hands pay out even money. This means that if you wager C$10 and your bet wins, you’ll get back double your wager, C$20. However, in the classic version of Baccarat, winning bets on the Banker are subject to a 5% commission.

This means that if you wager C$10 on the banker and your bet wins, you’ll need to pay C$0.50 commission. This means that you’ll receive C$19.50 instead of the even C$20.

The reason behind this commission is that over the course of numerous games using the same eight decks, the Banker’s hand is likely to win between three to four more hands than the Player’s.

How is No Commission Baccarat different?

One of the ways to avoid paying this commission is to play No Commission Baccarat. In this version of the game, the Banker’s hand pays the same even money without any commission, with one exception. If the Banker’s winning hand has a value of six points, a 50% commission applies.

What does a tie in Baccarat online pay out?

Should the round of Baccarat end with equal points, then any bets on the Player or Banker are lost, as neither won. However, in this case, bets on a Tie win will pay out between 8:1 and 9:1. However, whilst this option certainly looks tempting, many Baccarat players recommend avoiding it altogether.

The reason for this suggestion is simple, mathematics. Bets placed on a Tie give the house a 14.4% edge. In comparison, bets placed on the Banker’s hand give the house a 1.06% edge whereas those placed on the Player’s hand have a house edge of 1.24%.

With that said, Baccarat online is primarily a game of chance where either of the three bet options can win. Even though statistically, it is likely that some bets will win more than others, the potential payouts reflect this probability.

Why do so many players always bet on the Banker?

Betting on the Banker will provide you with the highest likelihood of wins, even though you’d need to pay a 5% commission. Over the course of numerous rounds, you’re more statistically likely to get higher payouts by betting on this hand rather than the Player’s hand.

However, there is no guarantee of the outcome, and any round in Baccarat can result in any of the three possible bets winning.