Baccarat may play similarly to blackjack, but there are several key differences between them. The most obvious being a lack of control or strategy on the player’s part. It is a perfect game of chance, allowing you to enjoy yourself without memorizing strategy cheat sheets.
Game Rules
In baccarat, you have two hands: the player and the banker. Despite the name, punters do not have control over the player hand. The dealer, who draw and reveal the cards, handles both. Both hands try to get as close to nine points as possible, which counts as a natural win. If the total sum of cards in one hand is more than nine, then you drop the first digit.
At the start of the round, the dealer draws two cards for each hand. If neither side gets an eight or nine, a third card is dealt. The player hand is dealt the third hand first if it has a five-point value or less. The banker draws a third card after the player, also if their hand total is five points or less.
If either side’s card value is six or seven, they will not draw any more cards. After all eligible third cards are dealt, the two sides are compared. The hand closest to nine is declared a victor.
Card Values
This game counts most cards with their face value. Cards between two to nine take their number value. Drawing a five and a two adds up to a seven total, which is simple enough.
An Ace has a face value of one. If you draw an Ace and a four, your hand total will be a five.
Drawing a ten, jack, queen or king is worth zero points. As an example, if you have a king and a seven, your total hand value will be seven.
When you add up two values and they go over ten, the first digit is lost. Adding nine and seven gives us sixteen. In baccarat round, the first digit will be removed, and the total value for that hand will be six.
Bets
There are three bets in total you can place, called Player, Banker and Tie bets.
- Banker bets wager that the banker will win. Due to the rules of baccarat, banker wins will happen more often than player wins. Because of this, a 5% commission is applied to all banker bet wins. Despite the commission, this is the best bet available, since it allows you to win more frequently.
- Player bets happen less frequently, but are not subject to any extra costs. Successfully winning a player bet means you get even money, no questions asked. This is a good option for punters chasing bigger payouts without drastically increasing their budget.
- Tie bets are self-explanatory; if the two sides are equal at the end of the round, you win. Tie wins are rare, which is why the casino will reward you with a 8:1 payout for guessing them correctly. We advise against playing this wager, since it has a high house edge.
