Baccarat Rules for Beginners: How to Play Baccarat in 5 Minutes
Baccarat rules are short. You bet on Banker, Player or Tie, two hands of two cards are dealt, and the hand closer to 9 wins. A third card is sometimes drawn by fixed rules, so you never have to decide anything except which bet to place.
That is honestly the whole game. The rest of this post fills in the details: card values, when the third card comes, what each bet pays, and how often each side actually wins with 8 decks.
Baccarat card values and how to count a hand
Aces are worth 1. Cards 2 through 9 are worth their number. Tens, Jacks, Queens and Kings are worth 0.
You add the cards and keep only the last digit. A 7 and an 8 make 15, so the hand is worth 5. A 9 and a 9 make 18, which is 8. A baccarat hand can never be worth more than 9.
If you want the full breakdown, including how often each two-card total shows up, I wrote it up in baccarat card values.
How a baccarat hand is dealt
Players bet first. Then the dealer gives two cards to Player and two cards to Banker, alternating.
"Banker" and "Player" are just the names of the two hands. You are not the banker, and you don't have to bet on the Player hand.
If either hand has 8 or 9 in its first two cards, that is a natural and the hand ends right there. Otherwise the third card rules kick in.
When does Player or Banker draw a third card?
Player goes first. With 0 to 5, Player draws. With 6 or 7, Player stands.
Banker's rule is longer, because Banker looks at the Player's third card before deciding. If Player stood, Banker draws on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7. If Player drew, Banker follows a chart. The whole chart is in baccarat third card rules.
You never need to memorize it. The dealer applies it every hand. Nobody at the table chooses whether to draw, so there is no skill in how the hand is played.
Baccarat payouts and odds for each bet
Here are the three main bets with 8 decks and standard rules. These are exact numbers I got by running every possible deal through the drawing rules.
| Wins | Pays | House edge | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banker | 45.86% | 0.95 to 1 | 1.06% |
| Player | 44.62% | 1 to 1 | 1.24% |
| Tie | 9.52% | 8 to 1 | 14.36% |
When the hand is a tie, Banker and Player bets push, which means you get your stake back.
Banker wins a bit more often because of its drawing chart, so the casino takes a 5% commission on Banker wins. After commission, Banker is still the cheapest bet on the table at 1.06%. The Tie looks generous at 8 to 1, but it is the most expensive of the three by far.
Side bets like pairs or Dragon 7 sit on the same table with their own payouts. They all cost more than Banker or Player. I compared them in baccarat expected value.
A full baccarat hand, step by step
Player gets 4 and K, which is 4. Banker gets 3 and 2, which is 5. No naturals.
Player has 4, so Player draws and gets a 6. That makes 10, which counts as 0.
Banker has 5 and Player's third card was a 6. The chart says Banker draws on 5 when Player's third card is 4 to 7. Banker gets a 2 for a total of 7.
Banker wins, 7 to 0. A Banker bet gets paid 0.95 to 1.
What baccarat rules can't tell you
The rules set the long-run odds, but they don't tell you what the next hand will be. Scorecards and streaks don't change that either. Only the cards left in the shoe change the odds, and usually by very little.
That last part is why I built Baccarator. I wanted to see how far the numbers actually move as a real shoe gets used up.
See the odds update as the shoe is dealt
Baccarator is a free iPhone app. Enter the cards after each hand, tap Calculate, and it recalculates Banker, Player, Tie and side bet odds from the cards that are left.
You can pick 6 or 8 decks and practice with virtual chips. No real money is involved.
Baccarat rules FAQ
What are the basic rules of baccarat?
You bet on Banker, Player or Tie. Each side gets two cards, a third card may be drawn by fixed rules, and the total closest to 9 wins. Tens and face cards count 0, aces count 1, and only the last digit of the total counts.
How do you play baccarat for beginners?
Place a bet on Banker, Player or Tie before the deal, then watch. The dealer handles every draw. Banker pays 0.95 to 1, Player pays 1 to 1, and Tie usually pays 8 to 1.
Is it better to bet Banker or Player in baccarat?
Banker has the lower house edge, 1.06% versus 1.24% for Player with 8 decks. That only means it costs a little less on average. Any single hand can still lose.
Baccarator is a math tool for education. No real-money gambling. 21+ only.
