Baccarat – All a Beginner Needs to Know

How to Play Baccarat

Baccarat, which is also known as Punto Banco, is a simple and fun game to play. There are two positions at each table, the Player and the Banker. Every player has the choice to either bet on the Player position, the Banker position or a Tie. The aim of the game is to guess which position will have a value closer to 9 at the end of the round.

The round starts after you have placed a bet on either the Player position to win, the Banker position or a Tie. Once your bet has been placed, the round starts. The dealer serves two cards to the Player position and places two cards on the Banker position. On most occasions, the round is finished but, in some situations, the positions may receive an additional third card.

In Baccarat, all number cards have the same value as they show. As for the picture cards, Jack, Queen and King are all worth 0, so is 10. Picture cards and 10 do not change the value of each position. The positions are determined by the last digit. For instance, if a position has an 8 and a 7, their final value is 5, not 15. Likewise, if a position has a 9 and Jack, the value is 9, as Jack is worth 0. Here are some rules about Baccarat:

• The Player or Banker will always stand on a total of 8 or 9
• The Player will always stand on a total of 6 or 7

The Third Card Rule

Most rounds in Baccarat are finished once the Player and Banker positions receive the two cards. However, in some circumstances, a third card is introduced into the action. Whilst this may be confusing at first, once you start playing and become familiar with the game, you will know when the third card is dealt. Here are scenarios when the third card is drawn:

• The Banker will draw a card if the Player stands, and the Banker has a total of 5 or less
• The Player will draw a card if they have a total of 5 or less

In addition, the Banker will draw a third card in the following circumstances:

• The Banker will draw a card if their total is either 0, 1 or 2
• The Banker will draw a card if their total is 3 and the Player’s third card was 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 or 0 (not 8)
• The Banker will draw a card if their total is 4 and the Player’s third card was 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7
• The Banker will draw a card if their total is 5 and the Player’s third card was 4, 5, 6 or 7
• The Banker will draw a card if their total is 6 and the Player’s third card was 6 or 7
• The Banker will always stand if they have a total of 7

How well do the Player, Banker and Tie Bets Pay?

In Baccarat, the Player and Banker position tend to pay the same amount – even money. However, most forms of baccarat include a 5% commission on all winning bets that are placed on the Banker position. Thus, the Player position is slightly more advantageous in how well it pays as the Banker suffers a 5% commission on wins.

There are also variants of baccarat such as No Commission Baccarat that do not have any additional charges on the Banker position. In these games, if the Banker wins with a 6, the position only pays at 0.5:1. In addition, most online baccarat games tend to pay 8:1 in case of any tie, however, this can vary as well.

The Statistics of Baccarat

Baccarat is an old casino game that has been played for over a couple of centuries. In baccarat, players bet on either the Player or Banker positions. Betting on a Tie pays well but is not likely to occur. We take a look at the statistics.

According to mathematics, the Banker position should be your number one bet. The Banker has an advantage over the Player position as the rules on the third card favour the Banker. The statistics show that the Banker position wins 50.69% of their hands and loses 49.32% of their hands to the Player position when removing Ties from the equation.

When playing regular Baccarat, the Player position is advantageous as there is no commission on any successful bets. However, the house edge is smaller on the Banker position, and therefore it is the better bet to place.

Interestingly, when playing No Commission Baccarat, it is the player bet that has the lower house edge. Therefore, it should be the first choice of bet.

The other option is to bet on a Tie. This type of bet is far riskier than betting on either the Player or Banker positions but will pay far more handsomely. The standard for Baccarat games is for a Tie to pay 8:1 but this may vary from one game to another.

The only issue with betting on a tie is that they occur less than 10% of the time. Thus, say you were to play 100 times, according to that stat, a Tie would only fall around 10 times. If you bet €1 on 100 rounds, you would end up spending €100. However, if the stats were completely accurate and you won 10 times, you would still only be paid €90, as the payout is 8:1. Thus, after 10 Tie wins, you still would not break even.

One thing to remember is that these are all statistics. As every seasoned player knows, gambling is not about statistics but about the luck of the draw. It may be worth betting on a Tie occasionally, but it is not the way forwards to using a successful strategy.

A Baccarat Strategy

Most Baccarat strategies will advise you to bet on the Banker position as much as possible. The Banker has a higher chance of winning than the Player, so it makes more sense to bet on the position that is more likely to win.

Below, we have listed an easy to remember Baccarat strategy. Every starting bet should be on the Banker position, and if it wins, the next bet should also be on the Banker position.

When the Banker position loses, do not switch to the Player position. Place one more bet on the Banker position. If the extra bet loses, switch to the Player position.

Keep betting on the Player position so long as it is winning. Once you lose, immediately switch back to the Banker position.

When betting on the Banker position, ignore any Ties. If you are betting on the Player position, a Tie is enough to change back to betting on the Banker position.

In addition to this basic Baccarat strategy, it is advised to manage your bankroll as well. If you have €100 and wish to play around 100 rounds, only bet €1 per round. This way, regardless of how much you have won or lost, you guarantee that you play 100 rounds with a €1 stake.

You may consider using a progressive betting system, such as the Martingale. However, these are full of disadvantages and in the long run, it is better to simply use the flat betting system described above and manage your bankroll carefully.