Online Baccarat Rules

Baccarat (also known as “Punto Banco”) is one of the oldest games that you can find in a casino. Historians believe that it was first exported from Italy (to France) in the fifteenth century, and the fact that this game has stood the test of time so well speaks volumes about it. With a simple set of rules, a low house edge, and a special kind of mystique that isn’t found with most casino games, people will probably still be talking about Baccarat in another five hundred years. If you would like to learn how to play this classic card game, read on to learn the rules of Baccarat.

How to Play Baccarat

Baccarat focuses around two, two-card hands and to start the game, you have to bet on which hand will be larger. You can also bet that they will be equal, but this is a less commonly played wager. You can bet on Banco (Banker), Punto (Player) or Standoff (tied). Despite their names, neither hand actually belongs to the house or a player, though the dealer will always bet on Banco. Once everybody has placed their bets, the dealer will deal two hands with two cards each. Depending on what the hands contain, the dealer may need to deal a third card to one or both of the hands. If only one of the two-card hands is worth eight or nine (a natural), then that hand automatically wins.

Baccarat hand values are a little different than in most games, but they are really quite simple. Cards ranging from one to nine are worth their face value, while aces are worth one point. Tens and face cards are all worth zero. Take your hand and add up all of your cards to know how much it is worth, but there is one more thing to do. If the sum of all of your cards’ values is in the double digits, you have to drop the first digit. For example, a hand with a nine and a four is worth three, because 9 + 4 = 13. Drop the first digit and you are left with just 3. Because of this, a hand cannot be worth more than nine.

The Three Baccarat Bets

The two primary bets are very similar in that they both pay 1:1. However, since Banco has an advantage (hey, the casino needs to stay in business) you have to pay a 5% commission to play Banco. At the end of the day, the advantage is worth more than the commission, so Banco is the smarter bet. The third bet, Standoff, pays out either 8:1 or 9:1, making it the key to the game’s largest potential payouts. However, a tie is very unlikely, and even these great odds simply cannot make up the difference. Some players still make this wager for the thrill, but it is one of the worst bets (statistically speaking) in the casino. If you’re only looking for a payout greater than 1:1, baccarat might not be the right game for you.