How to Play Baccarat

What baccarat is and how a round works

Baccarat is, at heart, a guessing game. Two hands are dealt, one called Player and one called Banker, and you bet on which will end up closer to nine points. You are not playing the Player hand yourself; those are just the names of the two betting positions, and the dealer does everything after you place your chips¹.

No matter how many people are at the table, and there can be anywhere from seven to 14 seats depending on the version, only two hands of cards are dealt: the Player's and the Banker's¹. Once the bets are placed, the dealer slides out four cards in total, two for the Player box and two for the Banker box¹. Depending on the totals, a third card may then be drawn for one or both hands, but this is not a decision anyone makes. A fixed set of drawing rules, sometimes called the tableau, is applied automatically by the dealer⁶.

The game is especially popular among high-rollers and Asian gamblers, and in Macao's VIP rooms baccarat is typically the only game offered⁷. That popularity comes down to pace and simplicity: a round takes under a minute, the house edge on the main bets is among the lowest in the casino, and there is nothing to learn beyond where to put your chips. If you want to see how the game fits into the wider casino floor, our page on casinos and integrated resorts in Asia covers what you will find inside.

Most tables, live and online, use eight standard 52-card decks with no jokers, for 416 cards in total, held in a dealing shoe⁹. At the start of a new shoe the dealer turns over one card to see how many cards to burn; a 10 or face card means 10 cards are burned¹¹.

Card values and the nine-point limit

Card values in baccarat are simpler than in any other table game:

• Ace counts 1 point
• Cards 2 through 9 count their face value
• 10, jack, queen and king count 0¹²

The winning hand is the one closest to a total of 9 points³. The trick is what happens when a hand goes past nine: only the rightmost digit counts. Once the points reach a double digit, the second digit automatically becomes the value of the hand, so 10 is worth 0, 11 is worth 1, and 12 is worth 2¹. If the total is higher still, say 25, the first number is dropped and the hand is worth 5⁵.

So a hand of 7 and 8, which totals 15, is worth 5. A hand of 4 and 6, which totals 10, is worth 0. The maximum any hand can reach is 9, and 9 is the best possible result¹².

The three bets: Player, Banker and Tie

Each seat at the table has three bet boxes, one each for Player, Banker and Tie³. A game of baccarat has exactly three possible outcomes: Player wins, Banker wins, or the two hands tie¹⁵.

• Player wins if the Player hand is closer to 9.
• Banker wins if the Banker hand is closer to 9. Despite the name, the Banker is not the casino and not a person; it is just the other betting position.
• Tie wins if both hands finish on the same total. In the event of a tie, neither hand wins or loses³.

At most tables you pick one side, Player or Banker, and you can add a Tie bet at any time even if you already have money on one of the sides⁵. Some online versions are more flexible and let you bet on Banker and Player at once, or combine a side bet with a Pair or Tie wager¹⁶. If you are curious about the many regional versions of the game, from no-commission to squeeze baccarat, see our page on baccarat variants.

Payouts and the 5% Banker commission

The payouts on the three main bets are straightforward:

The 5% commission on winning Banker bets exists because the Banker hand wins slightly more often than the Player hand. Without the commission, backing Banker would be the obvious play. With it, a winning Banker bet is paid at 19 to 20, so a 20 unit bet returns 19 units of profit¹⁹. Some tables collect the commission at payout; online, it is usually deducted automatically⁹.

There is a popular alternative called no-commission baccarat. As the name suggests, no commission is charged on winning Banker bets, with one exception: when the Banker wins with a total of 6, the bet is paid only half the wagered amount, 50%²⁰. This is why the Banker win on 6 is singled out by the Lucky 6 and Super Six side bets described below.

Naturals: when no more cards are dealt

A natural is a two-card hand totaling 8 or 9⁵. If either the Player or the Banker is dealt a natural on the first two cards, the round is over: no third card is drawn for either hand, no exceptions, and the placed bets are paid¹.

Naturals are the fastest part of the game. A Player dealt 5 and 4 (nine) against a Banker dealt 3 and 10 (three) ends immediately with a Player win, and nobody draws anything. If both hands have naturals of the same value, the round is a tie.

The third-card rule for the Player hand

When there is no natural, the Player hand is resolved first, because baccarat rules call for the Player to always go first and the Banker's hand depends on the Player's hand¹. The Player's rule is short:

• Totals 0 to 5: the Player draws a third card²³
• Totals 6 or 7: the Player always stands²³
• Totals 8 or 9: natural, no more cards²⁴

That is the whole rule. If the Player's first two cards total 4, a third card comes. If they total 7, the hand is finished. The only wrinkle is that the Player draws on 0 to 5 unless the Banker has a natural 8 or 9, in which case the round has already ended³.

The third-card rule for the Banker hand

The Banker's rule is the part of baccarat that looks intimidating, because it depends on two things: the Banker's own total and, if the Player drew, the value of the Player's third card. You never have to memorize it; the dealer applies it automatically. But here is the full table:

If the Player stood on 6 or 7, the Banker simply draws on totals of 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7, mirroring the Player's rule¹². So the long table above only comes into play when the Player has taken a third card.

A worked example: the Player is dealt 3 and 2 (five) and draws a 6, for a final total of 1. The Banker is dealt 4 and 3 (seven). Because the Player drew, the Banker with a total of 7 still stands, and the Banker wins 7 to 1. Another: the Player has 2 and 2 (four), draws a 5, finishing on 9. The Banker has 5 and 2 (seven) and stands; the Player wins. A third: the Player stands on 7, the Banker has 4 and 1 (five), so the Banker draws, and the higher final total wins.

Side bets: Pairs, Lucky 6 and Super Six

Beyond the three main bets, most tables offer side bets. The common ones in Asian casinos:

• Player Pair and Banker Pair. You are betting that the first two cards dealt to that hand will be a pair of the same rank, such as 5-5 or K-K, regardless of suit or color. The bet loses on every other outcome, and you can make it alongside your main bet or on its own¹⁶.
• Lucky 6. A bet that the Banker will win with a total of 6. It pays 12 to 1 if the Banker wins on 6 with two cards, and 20 to 1 if the Banker wins on 6 with three cards¹⁵.
• Super Six. Found on no-commission style tables, this is an insurance bet on the Banker winning with 6 points, paying 12 to 1¹⁰. It exists precisely because a Banker win on 6 is the one result where the no-commission table pays you half.
• Either Pair and Perfect Pair. Online versions offer wider pair menus, including bets on either hand making a pair or on a pair of identical cards⁵.

Some tables go much further. One Manila traditional baccarat guide lists Player, Banker, Lucky 6, Player Pair, Banker Pair, Tie, Super Tie, Small Tiger, Big Tiger, Lucky 7 and Super Lucky 7 on a single layout⁴. Macau's official rules also allow Dragon Seven side bets and progressive jackpot wagers²⁶. For a first visit, the three main bets plus perhaps a Pair bet are all you need.

House edge by bet: 1.06% to 14.36%

The house edge is the casino's average take on each bet, and in baccarat the spread between the best and worst bet is enormous:

The Banker bet, even after the 5% commission, is one of the cheapest bets in the entire casino, at about 1.06%⁸. The Player bet is barely worse. The Tie bet, despite its attractive 8 to 1 payout, carries a house edge of 14.36%, more than thirteen times the Banker bet²⁷. Pair side bets sit in between at 10.36%²⁰. On no-commission tables the Banker edge rises to 1.46% because of the half payout on a Banker 6²⁰.

If you want to compare these numbers with blackjack, roulette, sic bo and slots, see our page on the house edge of casino games compared.

Table etiquette and betting rules

Baccarat is one of the friendliest games for a newcomer because there is nothing you can do wrong at the cards. The rules that matter are about betting:

• All bets must be placed before the cards are dealt. Once the dealer announces no more bets, the round is locked²⁶.
• Every wager must sit within the table's minimum and maximum, which are displayed at the table²¹. For context on what those minimums look like across the region, see our page on casino table minimums and maximum bets in Asia.
• At tables with reserved seats, standing players may not bet in the positions marked for seated players²⁶.
• In big baccarat and squeeze versions, the players with the largest wagers on each hand get to look at, or squeeze, the cards before the dealer announces them². If that is not you, just wait for the reveal.

A few practical notes for your first table. Chips are bought at the table with cash or at the cashier cage; our page on buying and cashing chips explains how that works in Asian casinos. When you win, the dealer pays winning bets and collects losers; on a Tie, your Player or Banker chips stay where they are for the next round. Score cards are usually provided so players can track results, and many regulars treat streaks seriously, though each round is independent. Tipping practice varies by country, covered in our page on tipping dealers in Asian casinos.

Questions first-timers usually ask

Do I need to know the third-card rules to play? No. The dealer applies them automatically, and in online games the software does. You only choose where to put your chips.

Is there any strategy? Baccarat is a game of pure chance; you make one choice, which hand to back, and everything after that is fixed rules¹. The only decision with a mathematical basis is that the Banker bet has the lowest house edge, and even that is a margin of about one bet in 550¹².

What if I bet on Player and the Banker wins? You lose your Player chips, plain and simple. There is no folding, no drawing back, no second decision.

Can I play without sitting down? Yes, at most tables standing players can bet, as long as you do not take a position reserved for a seated player²⁶.

What does a table actually look like? A standard live table is a rounded rectangle around 1450 by 800 mm, with three betting spots for Player, Tie and Banker at each position²². Mini-baccarat versions are smaller and faster, with the dealer handling everything.

Where do the variants fit in? No-commission, squeeze and Super Six tables all use the rules on this page; only the payout on a Banker 6 or who touches the cards changes. Our page on baccarat variants breaks them down.