Baccarat Guide

Baccarat is one of the more simple casino games. Players do not participate in this card game at all except to choose whether to bet on the player, banker, or a tie before the game starts. This game is supposed to have originated from Italy and then travelled all over Europe.

How to Play Baccarat

The goal of this game is to be dealt cards totalling as close to nine as possible. Cards two to nine are valued at their face value, while tens, jacks, queens, and kings are valued at zero and aces are valued as one. The tens place is dropped from the total of the values of the cards that are laid down. For example, if the dealer receives an eight and a nine, totalling 17, it is counted as a seven. The highest either player can achieve in Baccarat is a nine. The suits of the cards do not matter in Baccarat.

The dealer deals out two cards each to the player and himself, a total of four cards in all, then:

• If either of the player or the dealer’s cards total numbers 8 or 9, this is considered "natural" and they both stand - no more cards are dealt, and the highest score wins. Otherwise:
• The player stands with a 6 or higher, otherwise (5 or lower) the player hits and is dealt another card.
• If the player stands, then the dealer will hit as long as he has a total of 5 or less.
• If the player hits, then whether the dealer hits or stands is dependent on this table:
  

  Banker	Player's 3rd Card
  	0,1,9	2,3	4,5	6,7	8
  7	S	S	S	S	S
  6	S	S	S	H	S
  5	S	S	H	H	S
  4	S	H	H	H	S
  3	H	H	H	H	S
  0,1,2	H	H	H	H	H

Payoffs in Baccarat

• Betting on the banker pays even money less a 5% commission (or 19:20).
• Betting on the player pays even money.
• Betting on a tie usually pays 8:1, although it is not unknown to receive 9:1.

House Edge

Although varying slightly depending on the number of decks used, the house edge is approximately 1% when betting on the banker, 1.25% when betting on the player, and over 14% when betting on the tie (approximately 5% when the casino pays 9:1, but either way it is a bad bet).

Optimal Baccarat Strategy

As there is no skill or player input involved in Baccarat whatsoever, the one and only best strategy is to gamble with the lowest house edge, so always bet on the banker.