How to Play Baccarat: A Comprehensive Guide

If you want to learn how to play baccarat then we are more than happy to have you! You’ve come on the right website.

Baccarat, pronounced BAH-kah-rah , is a card game that is very popular among Asian players. It was also played by James Bond in one of his movies.

It has a very low house edge of 1.06% making it one of the most popular bets at the casino. Because there is no strategy, it’s one of the easiest card games. It works in a similar way to roulette.

You pick what you want, and then the dealer does her job. Then you can see if you won or lost. It’s not possible to decide whether you want to hit, stand or raise.

You just need to pick your bet, and then wait for the results. That’s it. It’s a great game for people who have just graduated from slot machines and want to increase their chances of winning.

So, with this being said, let’s learn how to play baccarat, shall we?

How to play Baccarat

Two hands are dealt and the highest hand wins. You decide which hand you want to place your bet on before they are dealt. You could also bet they will tie.

The “Banker” hand is the one that you see, while the “Player” hand is entirely random. One hand is called “Banker” and the other is called “Player”, but that’s purely arbitrary. You could call them Hand 1 or Hand 2. You should also note that only one “Player hand” is dealt regardless of how many players are present. This is because the “Player hand” isn’t the player’s actual hand. It’s one of the options you have to bet on.

Baccarat does not allow for busting. Only the last digit is used to count the total. 9+5 is actually 4 (not 14). 6+5 is also 1 (not 11).

Face cards are worth nothing, while Aces count for 1.

Two cards are initially dealt to each hand. The complicated rules that govern the dealing of third cards determine whether they will be dealt to either hand. This is not a problem because the dealer will automatically deal the third card if it needs to be dealt. The third-card conditions are further down for those who wish to learn.

Now that lesson one is complete, let’s move on and learn how to play baccarat!

How to play baccarat: The strategy

The best surprise when you learn how to play baccarat is that there is no strategy involved.

The house edge for betting on Player is 1.24%. The banker has an average edge of 1.06, so betting on Banker will give you the best odds. Even if Player comes up just five times in succession, this is true. I understand that many people get bored with the same bets over and over again, so I will accept if you wish to place a Player bet occasionally. You won’t lose your chance to place a Player bet if the house edge (1.24%) on the Player bet is any worse than on the banker bet. The Tie bet has a 10% house edge, so don’t bet it.

On winning Banker bets, you’ll pay a 5% commission. After you have paid the 5% commission, the 1.06% House Edge will be yours. The dealer will keep track of your commission and you will pay it at the end. Make sure to save money for your commission.

Commissions are typically rounded to the nearest 25C/. If you bet more than $5, then you will pay more than 5% commissions. If you place a $6 bet, the nominal 5% commission will be 30C/. However, the casino will increase that amount to 50C/. A $6 bet will earn you 50C/, which is 8.3%.

Online casinos allow you to bet as low as $1. Although the nominal 5% commission for a $1 wager would be 5C/ (Bovada included), many online casinos have rounded that up to 25C/. A 25C/ commission for a $1 wager is 25%. If you play online for less than $5 per hand, the Player bet is better than the Banker bet.

Binion’s Horseshoe, Downtown Vegas, took a 4% Commission on the Banker Bet for many years before it closed its doors in 2003. The 4% commission was not resurrected when they reopened under a new owner.

Do dig a little deeper and make sure that you learn how to play baccarat the right way, we’ll move on to what the game is actually like.

How to play baccarat: what is the game like

Each player is allowed to deal cards in the Baccarat rooms, which have high limits and snobby players. There is no such perk on the casino floor, but certain casinos like Orleans will give the cards to players so that they can flip them.

When learning how to play baccarat, you will soon discover that the game is very attractive as you don’t need to know any strategy. Baccarat is a game that doesn’t require strategy. However, most games with low edges require you to know some.

The game has a flat edge, which means you can make only two decisions: how much you want to wager and on which low-edge hand you want to place your bet, Banker or Player. You can’t screw this up by placing a Tie bet, which has a high edge.

If you play with Asians then the play is generally very slow, because they take a long time to make their betting decisions. If they are allowed to handle the cards, it will be even slower. This is good news for you because you will lose less if you play slower.

You’ll see other players keeping track of who won each hand when you play. They are looking for trends to determine if Player, Banker or Tie is “due”. This effort is useless because past rounds are irrelevant to the next round. It’s just like tossing a coin. No matter what happened before, the odds of getting heads on the next round are always 50/50. You are now a step closer in your “how to play baccarat” journey!

How to play baccarat: the rules

If you want to learn how to play baccarat, then you need to understand the rules. The good part is that they are quite simple! These are the rules that determine whether a 3rd card is dealt, just informative because you don’t have any control over whether a 3rd card is drawn and can’t base any strategy upon it.

Each player and banker receives two cards.

If one side has 8 or 9, both sides are in agreement.

If Player’s total of 6 is reached, Banker will draw on totals of 0-5

If the total of Player’s cards is 0-5, then Player draws a card and Banker plays:

Banker’s total: 0-2: Always draw

The Banker’s total is 3. Draw, unless the Player has 8.

Banker’s total of 4: Draw if player’s 3rd Card is 2-7.

Banker’s total of 5: Draw if player’s 3rd or 4th card is drawn.

The Banker’s total of 6: Draw if the 3rd card from the Player is 6-7.

So, now you know everything there is to know on how to play baccarat. As always, remember to bet with your head and not over it!

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