How to Play Punto Banco

How to play Punto Banco

In order to play Punto Banco, all you have got to do is familiarize yourself with the table. On the baccarat table, there are two positions, the Player and the Banker. You will have the choice to bet on either position – or a Tie – hoping that your wager is bet on the correct outcome. The aim of the game is to get as close to 9 as possible. Whichever position is closer to 9 at the end of the round, wins.

Once all bets have been placed, the round starts. The dealer places two cards on the Player position and two cards on the Banker position. In most cases, the round will end after these two positions receive these cards. However, in some circumstances, the Player or the Banker position will receive a third card.

Punto Banco is quite easy to follow. All cards are worth their number value. The face cards – Jack, Queen and King – are all worth 10. In Punto Banco, the final digit is the most important as it determines the value of the hand. Hands cannot exceed nine. Thus, if you have an 8 and a 10, they combine to 18. However, as this is over nine, the 10 is removed, meaning the hand is worth 8. Essentially, this makes all face cards worth 0.

Rules on the Third Card

In Punto Banco, sometimes two cards will not be enough. In these scenarios, a third card will be drawn to the Player or the Banker positions. Although this may be tricky to follow at first, after practicing, you will get the hang of it. The third card is drawn in the circumstances listed below:

• If either the Player or Banker positions have a total of 8 or 9, they will stand.
• If the Player position has a total of 6 or 7, it will stand.
• If the Banker has a total of 5 or less, and the Player stands, the Banker position will receive a third card.
• If the Player position has a total of 5 or less, the Player will draw a third card.
• If the Banker has a total of 0, 1 or 2, the Banker position will draw a third card.
• If the Banker has a total of 3, whilst the Player’s third card was either 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 or 0 (not 8), the Banker position will draw a third card.
• If the Banker has a total of 4 and the Player’s third card was 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7, the Banker position will draw a third card.
• If the Banker’s total is 5 and the Player’s third card was 4, 5, 6 or 7, the Banker position will draw a third card.
• If the Banker has a total of 6 and the Player’s third card was 6 or 7, the Banker position will draw a third card.
• If the Banker has a total of 7, they will always stand.

Punto Banco Payouts

In case you are not aware of it yet, the Banker position has an advantage over the Player position. In fact, the Banker wins 50.69% of their hands and loses 49.32% of hands to the Player position – when eliminating Ties from the equation.

Thus, most baccarat games will have a 5% commission on all winning Banker bets. This is not the case for all Punto Banco games. In some online casinos, you will find No Commission Punto Banco which does not include the 5% commission. In these games, both positions pay 1:1 for all successful bets. However, a standard No Commission Punto Banco rule is that if the Banker wins with a 6, the payout is only 0.5:1. Finally, the majority of Punto Banco games will pay 8:1 for a Tie bet. However, this figure may vary depending on the baccarat variant and provider.

Beginner Tips for Punto Banco

In order to master baccarat, it is best you learn the basics that all seasoned professionals know. Before the start of every round, you will have the chance to bet on three separate outcomes. The Player position to win, the Banker position to win or a Tie bet. Each position has advantages and disadvantages to consider.

The most advantageous way of playing Punto Banco is to always bet on the Banker position. This is because, statistically speaking, it has the higher chance of winning every round. However, as most baccarat games include a 5% commission on the Banker position, you may want to switch it up a bit. The Banker position is the strongest bet as the rules for the third card will depend on how well the Player position performs. This gives the position the upper hand.

To deal with the 5% commission, you may want to switch up your bet. If you bet on the Player position, you will always receive even money for any successful round. If you bet on the Banker, you will win at 0.95:1. While this can make it tempting to bet on the Player, the statistics show that the Banker is still the preferable bet.

If you want to bet on a Tie, it shows that you are a risk taker. This is the most unlikely outcome but also pays the most. In the majority of baccarat games, a Tie will pay out 8:1. Statistically speaking, this bet is not worth taking.

Over the long run, a Tie is likely to occur in less than 10% of all hands. Thus, if you were to play 100 times, a Tie is likely to happen only 10 times – statistically speaking. With that train of thought, betting €1 per hand, you would end up playing €100 and winning back €80 from the 10 successful Tie bet rounds.

On the other hand, gambling is never about statistics. Technically, you could play 100 hands and 75 Tie bet rounds can occur. Each and every round is independent to the previous one. Thus, if you are a risk taker, betting on a Tie bet occasionally could turn out to pay off once in a while.

How to use Basic Strategy for Punto Banco

Essentially, the rules for using basic strategy in baccarat are rather simple. All you have to do is bet on the Banker position as much as possible. Statistically speaking, the Banker has a higher chance of winning than the Player. Thus, if you were to place bets on the Banker non-stop, there would not be many that argue with that strategy.

If you want to mix it up a little bit, there is an alternating way of playing Punto Banco. When sitting at a table, proceed to bet on the Banker position and keep on betting there so long as it wins.

After your first loss, stick to the Banker position for an extra round. If the Banker losses two on the trot, then switch to the Player position. Keep on betting on the player position but after a loss, switch back to the Banker position.

In the result of a Tie, ignore the outcome if you are betting on the Banker position. However, if you are betting on the Player position and a Tie occurs, switch back to the Banker position.

The most important thing to do in Punto Banco is manage your bankroll. Before you start playing, determine how much you want to spend and how many rounds you want to play. If you have €100 and want to play 100 hands, you should bet €1 per hand. Although it is very unlikely you will lose all 100 rounds consecutively, the format you must use to manage your bankroll is to assume that you do lose 100 on the trot.