Baccarat Rules

In Baccarat, cards are dealt to two hands, named Player and Banker. The object of the game is to correctly pick which hand will have the higher score (Player or Banker) or you can place a bet on Tie. The winning hand is the hand that has a point value closest to 9.

To play Baccarat you simply choose whether you want to bet on Player, Banker, Tie, or any combination of the three. When you have placed your bet(s), the cards are dealt and the Player and Banker hands are each dealt two cards.

It is important to understand how the card values work in Baccarat, as it is different than other casino games. To start, the suits of the cards have no meaning in Baccarat.

- Cards 2 through 9 count as face value.
- 10, Jack, Queen, and King count as 0
- Ace counts as 1

To calculate the score for the hand, add the values of each card and drop the ten's digit. For example, a hand with a seven of hearts and a seven of spades scores as follows:

7 + 7 = 14 - the ten's digit = 4

After the initial two cards are dealt to Player and Banker, if the score of either hand totals 8 or 9 (called a "natural"), the game is over and no further cards are dealt to either hand, as the hand with a natural 8 or 9 automatically wins.  A natural 9 will beat a natural 8.  If there is a tie between two naturals, the bets are called off.

The Player goes first and must play according to the following rules:

-The Player hand draws a third card if its total  is less than or equal to five (0-5), otherwise it does not draw another card. 

Play now proceeds to the Banker.

- If the Banker hand totals 7, 8 or 9, the Banker does not get another card.
- If the Banker's first two cards total 0,1, or 2, then the Banker draws one card, otherwise, the Banker draws cards according to this table: 

It is not necessary to memorize these rules in order to play as the drawing of cards is automatic.  However, it's good to be familiar with the rules when playing.

After the hands are fully dealt according to the rules above, the hand closes to 9 wins and if you correctly bet on the outcome, you win.

- If you bet on Player and win, you win even money (ex. a $5 wager pays back your $5, plus an additional $5).
- If you bet on Banker and win, you win even money minus a 5% commission (ex. a $5 wager pays back your $5, plus an additional $4.75).
- If you bet on Tie and win, you win 9 times your wager (ex. a $5 wager pays back your $5, plus an additional $45).