Online Baccarat Rules and Cards Simple Explanation

It is time for you to learn the basic baccarat rules to start playing it online. With decent odds of winning, pretty much automatized, and with dozens of variants, it is one of the easiest card games to gamble on these days. The best news is that it will only take a few minutes of your time to acknowledge the rule.

Card Values in Baccarat: The Most Important Rule

No one can understand the baccarat rules without knowing about the values of cards. The sum of those values determines the hand’s punctuation and whether you win or lose. When you place a bet, you can either win with the Banker or the Player hand, and that is entirely up to you. There are only these two.

In order for any hand to win, the total sum of the cards must be 9 or the closest to it while still higher than the other hand. A first hand totaling 8 or 9 is a natural hand that leads to automatic victory if there is no tie. You can figure that out easily by knowing the card values in baccarat rules:

  • 2 through 9: face value in points.
  • 10, J, Q, and K: zero points.
  • Aces: one point.

There are no Joker cards in baccarat. As an example, imagine that you have placed a bet on the Banker’s hand, and the drawn cards are 2 and 7. That is a natural hand of 9 points. If the Player hand has 6 and 10, that is a total of 6. In that case, you win in baccarat automatically.

Whenever the total count gets to 10, that is automatically a reset to 0. Therefore, a hand of two 5 cards actually has a total value of 0!

Player and Banker Hand: The Third Card Baccarat Rule

In some cases, the baccarat rules dictate that a third card has to be drawn to reach the result of a round. You do not need to do anything when you play baccarat on casino sites because the games are automatic. Still, it is important to understand what will happen and how a round can turn in your favor:

  1. If the Player total value in hands are 0 to 5, a third card is drawn to that hand.
  2. If the Player hand has a total value of 6 or more and the Banker has up to 5 points, the Banker hand draws a card.
  3. The Banker hand might draw a card depending on the Player hand’s third card.

To understand the nuances between the drawings, especially when both hands need to draw a card, we created an explained chart.

Baccarat Third-Card Chart

The Player hand’s third card rule is pretty straightforward and explained in the list above. However, the events that follow it are more complex to understand and deserve a complete explanation.

The column on the left reflects the total count in the Banker’s hand considering the card value rule in baccarat. The other columns show when the Banker hits (draws a third card) considering the value of the Player’s hand third card:

Banker’s TotalPlayer’s Third Card
 0123456789
0HitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitHit
1HitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitHit
2HitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitHit
3HitHitHitHitHitHitHitHitStandHit
4StandStandHitHitHitHitHitHitStandStand
5StandStandStandStandHitHitHitHitStandStand
6StandStandStandStandStandStandStandStandStandStand
7StandStandStandStandStandStandStandStandStandStand

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Baccarat Rules on Odds & Payout

Deciding which bet to place in baccarat can be difficult, especially if you are not aware of the real odds and payout. Instead of choosing a random option that might not be so interesting because of the house edge or probability, take the following table into account:

BetPayoutOne-Deck Baccarat House EdgeEight-Deck Baccarat House Edge
Banker0.95:11.01%1.06%
Player1:11.24%1.29%
Tie8:1 or 9:114.36%15.75%
(Any) Pair Bet5:110.36%29.41%

We have added the side Pair Bet that is not available in every baccarat game. However, if you find it in a game, you already know your odds from now on. The house edge is smaller for the Banker bet, but keep in mind the commission that is charged from the winnings.

No-Commission Baccarat and the Hidden Rule

If the only thing stopping a player who knows the baccarat rules from betting on the Banker’s hand is the commission rule, there are no-commission baccarat games. They are not simply a game in which the disadvantage is removed, as there is a compensating rule.

Basically, if you bet on the Banker’s hand and the total count of 6 is what leads you to win, you are paid 1:2. In other words, instead of the regular 95% profit, you get only 50%. For all other winning hands, you are receiving the exact 1:1 that a winning Player’s hand is paid.

Consider if that small risk is worth playing a No-Commission Baccarat to recover that 5% commission from all other scenarios. If so, give it a go, and maybe start playing the demo version first.

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FAQs

The basic rules are the specific value of each card, that a natural hand wins with 8 or 9 unless there is a tie, and that specific numbers lead to a third card. Learn those by heart, and you can become a pro!

Given that the game is completely automatic, you do not need to learn the baccarat rules to play. You can even win without knowing them, but you won’t understand much.

A higher card does not mean you are winning in baccarat. The highest value deck cards are worth 0 in this game, and it is the right combinations that count.

Yes, there are no limits as to how many times you may bet on the banker’s hand.

The games seem similar because of card values in the hands, but even that characteristic differs in them. In blackjack, you have different choices to make, and there is no value reset.

Counting cards in baccarat is impossible because too few cards are drawn in a round for that blackjack strategy to make sense here.