Baccarat — Rules, Odds and the One Correct Bet

Two hands are dealt — Banker and Player — and you bet on which will finish closer to nine, or on a tie. Aces count one, 2-9 face value, and tens and picture cards zero. Totals drop the tens digit, so 7 plus 8 is 15 which scores 5.

You are not the Player and the dealer is not the Banker: they are simply the names of two betting positions. You can back either one on any hand.

If either hand totals 8 or 9 on the first two cards, that is a natural and the hand ends. Otherwise the Player draws on 0-5 and stands on 6-7, and the Banker draws according to a fixed table that depends on its own total and the Player's third card.

You never make this decision — the dealer or software applies the rule automatically. That is why baccarat has no strategy in the blackjack sense: your only choice is which position to back.

Banker wins slightly more often because it acts last, so the house charges a 5% commission on Banker wins. Even after commission, Banker is the best bet at a 1.06% house edge. Player pays even money with no commission at a 1.24% edge.

Tie pays 8:1 or 9:1 and carries a house edge of roughly 14.4% at 8:1. It is one of the worst bets available in a casino and should be treated as entertainment spending, not as a bet.

Punto Banco is the standard version played online. No Commission Baccarat removes the 5% charge but pays Banker wins with a 6 at only 1:2, which slightly raises the edge. Speed Baccarat and Lightning Baccarat compress the round or add multipliers with an added fee per hand.

Side bets such as Perfect Pair, Dragon Bonus and Either Pair run house edges between 3% and 12%. Consistently backing Banker with no side bets is the entire optimal strategy.

Baccarat tables display elaborate roadmaps — big road, bead plate, big eye boy — that chart previous results. Players use them to bet with or against streaks.

Shoes are shuffled and hands are close to independent, so no roadmap has predictive value. They are a tradition and a betting aid, not an edge. The house edge is unchanged whichever pattern you follow.