Baccarat has a small vocabulary, but some of it is slang and some of it changes between English and Chinese tables. Here are the baccarat terms you are most likely to hear, from Banker and Player to Monkey, Big Eye Boy and Dragon 7, each explained in a sentence or two, with a link if you want the full story.
Bookmark it and come back when a word at the table or in a video doesn't make sense.
Basic baccarat terms
Banker and Player: The two hands dealt every round. You bet on which one ends closer to 9. Neither one is the casino or you. See how to play baccarat.
Tie: Both hands end on the same total. It pays 8 to 1 on most tables, and Banker and Player bets push.
Natural: A two-card total of 8 or 9. The hand stops right there. See baccarat natural 8 or 9.
Commission: The 5% taken from a winning Banker bet, so it pays 0.95 to 1. See baccarat payouts.
Card values: Aces count 1, 2 to 9 count face value, tens and face cards count 0. Only the last digit of the total matters. See baccarat card values.
Punto Banco: Another name for the standard version, where the drawing rules are fixed and nobody makes choices. See baccarat variants.
Dealing terms: shoe, burn card, cut card, squeeze
Shoe: The box holding the shuffled cards, usually 8 decks or 416 cards. "A shoe" also means one full run of those cards, about 80 hands. See how baccarat is dealt.
Burn card: Cards discarded face down at the start of a shoe. The first card turned over sets how many.
Cut card: A plastic card placed near the end of the shoe. When it appears, the shoe ends after the current hand.
Third card rule: The fixed chart that decides whether Player and Banker draw a third card. See baccarat third card rules.
Squeeze: Peeling a card open slowly from the edge. It adds drama and changes nothing about the odds. See baccarat squeeze.
Monkey: Table slang for a ten or face card, the cards worth 0. "Monkey!" is what players shout when they want one.
Scoreboard terms: Big Road, Big Eye Boy and more
Bead Plate and Big Road: The basic scorecards. The Bead Plate logs every result in order; the Big Road groups runs of the same side into columns. See baccarat scoreboard explained.
Big Eye Boy, Small Road, Cockroach Pig: The three derived roads, drawn from the Big Road by comparing columns. They only re-express past results.
Dragon: A long run of the same side, such as six Banker wins in a row. See baccarat streak probability.
Chop: Results that alternate, Banker, Player, Banker, Player. Chinese players call it a single jump. See baccarat patterns.
Side bet terms
Pairs: Banker Pair or Player Pair wins when the first two cards of that hand are a pair. See baccarat pair bets.
Dragon 7 and Panda 8: Side bets on no-commission tables: Banker wins with a three-card 7, or Player wins with a three-card 8. See Panda 8 vs Dragon 7.
Dragon Bonus: A bet that pays more the bigger your side wins by, plus on naturals. See Dragon Bonus odds.
Super 6: Pays when Banker wins with a total of 6. See baccarat Super 6.
Big and Small: A bet on whether the hand uses 4 cards (Small) or 5 to 6 cards (Big). See Big and Small bets.
Math terms: house edge, expected value, Kelly
House edge: The average share of each bet the house keeps over the long run: 1.06% on Banker, 1.24% on Player.
The arithmetic is in baccarat house edge.
Expected value (EV): The average result of a bet if you could repeat it forever. At the start of a fresh shoe every bet has a negative EV. See expected value of side bets.
Kelly criterion: A formula for sizing a bet when EV is positive. When EV is negative, its answer is zero.
None of these words changes the odds. The rules and the remaining cards do.
See the terms in action
Once the words make sense, it helps to see them move. Every term above that touches odds, such as Tie, pairs, Dragon 7 or expected value, shows up live in Baccarator as you enter a shoe.
After each hand you enter the cards and tap Calculate, and Baccarator recalculates the odds and expected value for Banker, Player, Tie, pairs and side bets from the cards still in the shoe. If a bet briefly turns positive, it shows a Kelly sizing suggestion. That only appears when expected value is positive, it is a long-run average, and the next hand can still lose. Positive moments are rare and short. You can choose 6 or 8 decks and practice with virtual chips, with no real money involved.
Baccarat terms FAQ
What does Monkey mean in baccarat?
It is slang for a ten or face card, which counts as 0. Players shout it when they want a 0 for their hand.
What is a natural in baccarat?
A two-card total of 8 or 9. When either hand has one, no more cards are drawn.
What does shoe mean in baccarat?
The box that holds the shuffled decks, and also one full run through those cards, about 80 hands with 8 decks.
Baccarator is a math tool for education. No real-money gambling. 21+ only.
