How To Play Baccarat

Baccarat Rules

There are three possible bets in Baccarat:

1. The banker’s hand will win.
2. The player’s hand will win.
3. The banker’s hand and the player’s hand will tie.

(A tie pays out 8:1; however, the house edge in baccarat is

high and winning on a tie is rare.)

A winning hand in baccarat has a value closest to 9 without going over 9. Players familiar with blackjack will find the rhythm of baccarat familiar, except that the marker number is 9 instead of 21. The player and the banker can also choose to stand or hit depending on the value of the initial hand.

How to Play Baccarat

To begin, two cards are dealt to the banker and two cards are dealt to the player. Values of the cards are fairly straight-forward and are determined as follows:

Ace = 1

Number cards up to 9 are worth their displayed value (3 = 3; 4 = 4; 9 = 9, etc.)

Face cards = 0 (Jack, Queen and King)

If an 8 or 9 are dealt in the initial hand, it is called a natural hand. A score of 9 on the first two cards dealt is a perfect hand. A natural 9 beats a natural 8. A natural hand is a win. The tricky rule of baccarat is when the sum of the cards is higher than 9. If the first two cards dealt equal more than 9 when added, the second digit of the sum is considered the value of the hand. In other words, the first digit is dropped, leaving the second digit to determine the value. For instance, if the hand contains two 8’s it is worth 6, not 16. If the cards are a 6 and a 5, the value of the hand is 1 instead of 11.

The banker and the player can stand or draw, based on the value of their hand. Hands less than 4 should hit, while hands 6-9 should stand. The hand standing closest to 9 is the winning hand.