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How to Play Baccarat

Deal real hands and call each draw yourself until the third-card rules are second nature, then see the exact odds of every bet, worked out from every way the cards can fall.

1.06%House edge on the banker, 8 decks

1.24%On the player

14.4%On a tie paying 8 to 1

0 of 0 right

PLAYER

BANKER

Shuffling…

?Decide for the player first, then the banker. A total of 8 or 9 in the first two cards is a natural and ends the hand.

The rules in one card

Cards: ace 1, 2–9 face value, 10 and pictures 0. Only the last digit counts.
Natural 8 or 9 on either side: no more cards.
Player: draws on 0–5, stands on 6–7.
Banker, if the player stood: draws on 0–5.
Banker, if the player drew: see the table below this tool.

18+For learning the rules. No money is involved; every shoe is shuffled at random.

How to play baccarat

Place a bet

Player, banker or tie. “Player” and “banker” are just the two hands on the table: you don’t play either one, and nobody makes decisions during the hand.

Count the cards

Tens and picture cards count 0, aces 1, the rest face value. Only the last digit counts: 7 + 8 = 15, which is 5. The hand closer to 9 wins.

Let the rules draw

A natural 8 or 9 ends the hand. Otherwise the player draws on 0–5 and stands on 6–7, and the banker follows the drawing table below. Banker wins pay 19 to 20 (5% commission), player wins 1 to 1.

The banker's third-card rules

When the player has drawn a third card, the banker draws (D) or stands (S) by its own total and the value of that card. If the player stood, the banker draws on 0–5.

Banker total	Player stood	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
0	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
1	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
2	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
3	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	S	D
4	D	S	S	D	D	D	D	D	D	S	S
5	D	S	S	S	S	D	D	D	D	S	S
6	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	D	D	S	S
7	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Columns 0–9 are the value of the player's third card. With 8 or 9 in its first two cards the banker has a natural and never draws.

Baccarat odds and house edge

Exact, from every way the first six cards can fall with each card leaving the shoe as it is dealt.

Bet	Pays	8 decks	6 decks	1 deck
Banker wins		45.86%	45.87%	45.96%
Player wins		44.62%	44.63%	44.68%
Tie		9.52%	9.51%	9.36%
Bankerhouse edge	19 to 20	1.06%	1.06%	1.01%
Playerhouse edge	1 to 1	1.24%	1.24%	1.29%
Tiehouse edge	8 to 1	14.36%	14.44%	15.75%
Tiehouse edge	9 to 1	4.84%	4.93%	6.38%
No-commission bankerwin on 6 pays half	1 to 1	1.46%	1.45%	1.39%
EZ Baccarat banker3-card 7 pushes	1 to 1	1.02%	1.02%	0.97%
Player or banker pairhouse edge	11 to 1	10.36%	11.25%	29.41%

Ties return banker and player bets, so their house edges are per hand dealt. A natural comes up in 34.3% of hands. Online and live tables mostly deal from 8 decks; check the rules screen for the paytable.

Baccarat strategy: what betting systems do

100,000 sessions of each system on the banker bet, 8 decks: €200 bankroll, €5 unit, stop at +€100, €500 table limit, up to 200 hands.

System	Hit +€100	Ran out of money	Finished ahead	Average staked	Per €100 staked
Flat bettingThe same bet every spin.	9.3%	0.4%	44.0%	€969	−€1.05
MartingaleDouble after every loss; back to one unit after a win.	63.4%	36.4%	63.5%	€678	−€1.06
Reverse Martingale (Paroli)Double after a win, up to three wins in a row; back to one unit after a loss.	38.4%	14.9%	49.6%	€1271	−€1.06
D'AlembertOne unit more after a loss, one unit less after a win.	62.0%	38.0%	62.0%	€951	−€1.07
FibonacciWalk up the sequence 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8 … after a loss, two steps back after a win.	55.2%	36.2%	62.2%	€1067	−€1.11
LabouchèreWrite 1-2-3-4, bet the two end numbers; cross them off after a win, add the bet to the end after a loss.	61.2%	38.8%	61.2%	€598	−€1.16

Every system ends up losing about €1.06 per €100 staked: the banker bet's house edge. Try the same systems on our roulette strategy simulator with your own bankroll and limits.

What it can do

Keep the cost at its lowest: bet the banker (1.06%) or the player (1.24%), skip the tie and the pair bets, and prefer a table with the standard 5% commission over no-commission variants.

What it can't do

Predict the next hand. Streaks, “roads” and patterns are what random results look like; the odds of the next deal don't change with them.

Questions

How do you play baccarat?

Bet on the player, the banker or a tie before the deal. Each side gets two cards; the one closer to 9 wins. Tens and picture cards count 0, aces 1, and only the last digit of a total counts, so 7 + 8 = 5. Whether a third card is drawn is decided by fixed rules, not by you.

Should I bet on the banker or the player?

The banker. It wins 45.86% of hands against 44.62% for the player in an 8-deck shoe, so even after the 5% commission its house edge (1.06%) is lower than the player bet's (1.24%).

Is the tie bet worth it?

No. A tie comes up 9.52% of the time; at 8 to 1 that is a 14.4% house edge, more than ten times the banker bet. Some tables pay 9 to 1, which cuts it to 4.84%, still far above banker or player.

What is the third card rule in baccarat?

If either side has 8 or 9 in two cards (a natural), both stand. Otherwise the player draws on 0–5 and stands on 6–7. If the player stood, the banker draws on 0–5; if the player drew, the banker’s choice depends on its total and the player’s third card: the drawing table on this page shows every case.

What is no-commission baccarat?

A version with no 5% commission, where a banker win on a total of 6 pays only half. In 8 decks that puts the banker bet's house edge at 1.46% instead of 1.06%. EZ Baccarat, which pushes a banker win with a three-card 7 instead, comes to 1.02%.

Is there a baccarat strategy that works?

No betting system changes the house edge. Following streaks, betting against them or raising stakes after losses only changes how sessions end: many small wins and occasional large losses, or the reverse. The table on this page runs six systems on the banker bet to show it.

Are baccarat pair bets good?

A player or banker pair (the first two cards of that hand share a rank) pays 11 to 1 at most tables. In 8 decks it comes up 7.47% of the time, a house edge of 10.36%.

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