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Baccarat is the most popular table game in Macau and all of Asia. Here you will find information on rules, history, strategy, tournaments and more for online and land based casino gameplay.
It is a game played on a table much like blackjack. Land casinos can have as many as 14 betting positions, while online casinos usually have the three main bets. There are three basic bets including; Banker, Player, and Tie. Banker and Player hands are dealt from a shoe which consists of six to eight decks of cards. Each casino software provider puts their own style into the game, although the most basic rules remain the same online or in a land casino. At some land casinos, the shoe is passed from player to player. In addition to virtual dealers, some online casinos also offer Live dealers.
The most common variation of this game is Punto Banco. However, there are several variations including side bets paying up to 30:1 and versions with no commission (EZ Baccarat) where a certain Bank hand that typically wins is barred, making up the house edge.
The object of the game is to wager on the hand which you think will have the highest value, either the banker or player, a bet that the two hands will tie can also be made. However, a tie bet, even with 8:1 payout is the worst bet on the table with 14.4% house edge. The highest possible value of a hand is nine; face cards (kings, queens, jacks) and ten have a value of zero. If the total value of a hand rises above ten, then the value starts from zero again, for example (5 + 7 = 12, final value = 2).
Bets cannot be raised or retracted once the hand starts. Winning bets on Player return 1:1 and Tie payout 8:1. However it is important to note casinos charge a commission on winning bank bets, normally around five percent, this changes the odds on the banker bet to 1:0.95 (19 to 20). But due to special rules, banker will win more often than player, 4 to 5 times over the course of an eight deck shoe, making this very slightly the best bet statistically even with the lower return per win. The actual commission percentage may vary from one casino to the next. If a tie occurs, your bet is returned with no loss if you bet on Banker or Player.
In special cases, it depends on the value of either the banker or player hand where a third card's drawn.
It is as follows.
Player Hand: When the hand has an initial value of 6 or more the player stands and receives no third card. If the initial value is less, then the player draws one more card.
Banker Hand: If the hand has an initial value of 7 or more, the banker stands and receives no other card. If the hand, however, values either, 0, 1, or 2, then another card is drawn. For hands that value from 3 to 6, drawing a third card depends on the value of the player’s hand.
If either the Player or Banker hand count to 8 or 9 in two cards, it is a "Natural" and no more cards are dealt.
| Banker Hand | Banker Draws with player hand value: | Banker Stands if players hand value is: | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 | 8 | 4 | 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 | 0, 1, 8, or 9 | 5 | 4, 5, 6, or 7 | 0, 1, 2, 3, 8, or 9 | 6 | 6 or 7 | 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, or 9 |
Online Baccarat
One very popular game at online casinos is Baccarat.
Baccarat is played online in much the same way it is played at a live casino, with a six or eight deck shoes and the cards are shuffled between rounds. The game begins by wagering on who will have the hand closest to the value of nine, the banker or the player, or will the hand end in a tie? Face cards and tens have a value of zero, aces are one, and all other cards are face value. The player and banker are each dealt two cards, in some games a third card is dealt. The one with the hand closest to the value of nine wins. If the value of the hand is 10 or more, 10 points are subtracted from the actual value to get the baccarat value. Wagers on the banker or player pay 2:1, minus a commission on winning Bank bets. Wagers on the tie usually pay 8:1. If a tie occurs, the player and banker bets have their wagers returned.
The following list includes baccarat games from all the online casinos in our database. Each software will offer something a little different to make the game their own, but this list will make it easy to compare the different versions of the game.
Baccarat Games
Casino Games
Frequently asked questions
For the person with little or no gambling experience, who like you, wants to put an emphasis on something way easy to play, I would suggest baccarat, and betting on the banker hand every time. House edge 1.06%.
Baccarat is a card game with one major similarity to blackjack, Danny. Once the cards are dealt, they are then placed in a discard rack and do not reappear until the shuffle. In theory, knowledge of the remaining cards can be used for an applicable counting system. Because counting does works in blackjack, some believe a card-counting system can/should work for baccarat, being that the effect of removing any given card from the game favors either the player or the house.
That said, personally, I’m not willing to expend my already depleted brain cells and count down eight decks of randomly shuffled cards for a hypothetical, minuscule off-balance in my favor, especially when playing baccarat either drunk or stupid the house only holds a 1.06 or 1.24 percent house advantage on the bank or player bet.
Even two leading authorities on counting systems, Peter Griffin and Edward Thorp, believe baccarat is not a countable game. As a matter of fact, Griffin’s analysis showed that a card-counter could earn less than ten cents per day by using the strongest possible count system. Talk about minimum wage!
Likewise, I’ll band with Thorp and Griffin, even though I once learned a supposedly simple counting method that an old-time pit boss named Dennis taught me when I first learned to deal mini-baccarat. I’m sure it was for my amusement and not to protect the casino’s war chest, since we seldom saw a wager over five bucks, but he told me to count the 4s and 6s as they left the shoe. He said when 4s exit the deck, statistically the player should be betting on the banker, and when 6s come out, the player wager is the smarter bet.
Is this count method practical? Hell if I know, but one thing Denny was always good for was free after shift drinks at the casino bar.
Here's a nifty little trick I used to figure out the commission when I dealt the game. Divide the winning bet by two, and then scratch the zero. For instance, you make a $60 bet on the banker hand and it wins, paying even money. Half of the $60 win is $30, drop the zero, and your commission is $3.
As for why a commission, David, it's because the player hand is always played out first, causing the banker hand to win 50.7 percent of the time, versus the player hand at 49.3 percent, ties excluded.
To roadblock the gung-ho gambler from forever betting the banker hand and being in receipt of a 1.4 percent advantage, the casino taxes all winning banker wagers at a rate of five percent. It is due to this commission, charged on your winning wagers, that the casino holds a 1.06 percent edge over the banker hand, and a 1.24 percent advantage over all player bets, ties included.
Still, even if the casino levies a slight percentage from your winning loot, the banker and the noncommissioned player hand are two of the best bets on the casino floor. Both are fun and profitable, and isn’t that, David, what gambling should be all about?
The term simply means whichever side (player or banker) won the last hand, your next bet would be the same. Consequently, if a streak occurs for either side (common in baccarat), you will be riding it for its full duration.
The secret to baccarat, Sally, is that there is no secret, so long as you stick to the Banker or Player wagers. You will not break your “lose everything, win nothing” track record by betting on a high vigorish proposition bet such as the tie wager, when the two other, far less punishing, alternatives are available.
As for that tie bet, it is the only proposition wager on the table, and a lousy one to boot.
Statistically, a tie appears every 10.5 hands, but the casino is willing to pay you only 8:1, which gives the house a 14.36% edge on a tie wager.
My first inclination was to suggest you to look it up in a dictionary, but far to many players mispronounce baccarat. The "t" in baccarat is silent and correctly pronounced its ba-ka-ra, not back-a-rat (a small rodent found nibbling on buffet leftovers).
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