How to Play Baccarat: A Complete Beginner's Guide
From the rules to the strategy, in plain language. Updated
Baccarat is a simple card game where you are not betting on your own cards. You are guessing which of two hands, Player or Banker, will finish closer to 9. You make no decisions once the deal starts, because a fixed rule decides when a third card comes out. The Banker bet has the lowest house edge, at about 1.06%.
- The goal: pick whether Player or Banker lands closer to nine. You can also bet the tie.
- Values: ace is 1, 2 through 9 are face value, tens and face cards are 0. Only the last digit of a total counts.
- No decisions: every draw, including the third card, follows a fixed table. There is nothing to get wrong.
- Best bet: Banker at about 1.06%. Player is 1.23%. The tie is a trap at 14.36%.
- No way to outplay it: neither card counting nor betting systems turn baccarat into a winning game.
How a round goes
A round is essentially automatic. You bet at the start, and the dealer runs everything else by rule.
You bet
On Player, Banker, or Tie. That is the only decision you make all round.
Two hands are dealt
Player and Banker each receive two cards. Each total is read as its last digit.
Natural?
If either hand shows 8 or 9 immediately, that is a natural, the round ends, and the totals are compared.
A possible third card
Otherwise the fixed table decides who draws: Player, Banker, or both.
Closer to 9 wins
The higher total wins and the winning bet is paid.
Card values
The values are easy, and the important part is that tens and all face cards are worth zero.
How totals work
Add up the cards, and if the total goes past 9, drop the first digit. That means you can never bust the way you can in blackjack. The highest possible hand is 9.
Naturals and the third card rule
Naturals come first. If Player or Banker shows 8 or 9 on the first two cards, the round is over. Otherwise the third card rule takes over, and nobody chooses anything. The dealer runs it automatically.
Player is simple: draw a third card on 0 through 5, stand on 6 or 7.
Banker is more involved, because whether Banker draws depends partly on which third card Player took. That is why Banker is said to act second, and it is where the small Banker advantage comes from.
The full Banker drawing table
| Banker total | Draws a third card? |
|---|---|
| 0, 1, 2 | Always draws |
| 3 | Draws unless Player's third card is an 8 |
| 4 | Draws if Player's third card is 2 through 7 |
| 5 | Draws if Player's third card is 4 through 7 |
| 6 | Draws if Player's third card is 6 or 7 |
| 7 | Stands |
If Player took no third card, having stood on 6 or 7, Banker draws on 0 through 5 and stands on 6 or 7. You do not need to memorize any of this. The dealer handles all of it.
Bets and payouts
There are three main bets, plus side bets. Here is what each pays and what it costs.
| Bet | Payout | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| Banker | 1:1 less 5% commission, so 0.95:1 | 1.06% |
| Player | 1:1 | 1.23% |
| Tie | 8:1 | 14.36% |
| Player Pair / Banker Pair | 11:1 | 10.36% |
Banker wins more often than Player, about 45.9% against 44.6%, with the remaining 9.5% ties, and that is precisely because Banker acts second with more information. The house takes that advantage back through the 5% commission on winning Banker bets, and even after paying it, Banker is still the best bet on the table.
Some tables pay the tie at 9:1, which drops its house edge to 4.84%. That is a large improvement on a bet that is still much worse than either main wager.
House edge: which bet is best
Can baccarat be beaten?
Not reliably, no. Blackjack rewards skill because basic strategy and card counting genuinely change the odds. Baccarat has no decisions at all, so there is nothing to do well. Counting it is possible in principle and the edge shift is so small that it never repays the effort, as we go through in counting in other games.
Betting systems do not change any of this. Martingale and its relatives only alter how quickly the money moves.
What about the roads, patterns, and trends?
The boards covered in colored marks (big road, bead plate, big eye boy) record what has already happened. They look analytical, and past results have no influence on future ones, because every round is independent. Reading patterns is a pastime, not a strategy. Baccarat is a game of chance, and the best you can do for yourself is bet Banker and play short sessions.
Variants you will run into
- Punto Banco is the standard version, in casinos and online. Every draw is automatic, exactly as described above.
- Mini-baccarat has identical rules on a smaller table, with a faster pace and lower minimums. It is what most American casino floors actually offer.
- Chemin de fer is the older European form where players take turns banking and can decide on the third card.
- EZ Baccarat pays Banker at a full 1:1 with no commission, but a Banker win with a three-card 7 pushes instead of paying. The house edge lands in the same neighborhood, and its Dragon 7 side bet is one of the few genuinely countable wagers in a casino.
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By Martin Kosek · every number on this site is computed by us, not copied.
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