How to Play Baccarat | A Step-by-Step Tutorial

I recommend learning the card values and some baccarat terms first, as this is usually the most confusing part for beginners.

• Tens and face cards (King, Queen, Jack) are worth 0 points.
• Aces are worth 1 point.
• Other cards are worth their number value (2-9).

The second step in learning to play baccarat online is understanding the game’s elements.

As you can see in the illustration below, the chip stacks and the shoe (where the cards come from) are at the top of the screen.

At the bottom, you’ll find your controls, which indicate how much money you can bet, and buttons to Rebet, Deal, and Undo.

In the middle, you get a spot for the Player’s and Banker’s hand; below that, you will get the betting options.

Baccarat Bets

Remember that you can make any of these bets before the cards are dealt:

• You can bet on the Player’s hand
• You can bet on the Banker’s hand to win
• Or bet on a tie

Choose to bet on the Player, the Banker, or a Tie. You can bet on only one option per hand.

To do this, pick how much you want to bet and click on the part of the table that shows the kind of bet you want.

Your best options are the Player and Banker bets, which have roughly the same house edge. The Banker’s hand has better odds, but you have to pay a 5% commission on wins. The player hand odds are not as good.

You can see in the example below that I bet $5 to the Banker’s hand.

The next step is to click on “Deal.” The player’s and Banker’s hands each receive two cards, dealt face-up.

In the example below, you can see that the Player’s hand is a King and a 4. At the same time, the Banker’s hand is 5 and 3.

Then, the game automatically adds up the points of both card sets to determine which is closer to 9.

In this case, the winner is the Banker’s hand, which has 8 points, four more than the Player’s. This is called a natural win.

A quick note before we continue: If the sum of the two cards is more than 10, the second digit is counted as the hand’s value.

For example, if a hand has a 9 and 7, it would be 16, but as it takes only the last number, it becomes a hand of 6 points.

As in blackjack, there are times when it is necessary to add a third card.

The Player draws first in any hand of baccarat. If the hand is between 0 and 5, the Player bet gets a third card. If it’s between 6 and 9, it doesn’t.

The Player bet has a house edge of 1.52%. When you bet on the Player’s hand, follow the baccarat rules chart below.

Player Hand & Third Card

• A third card is always drawn if the Player’s hand is 0 through 5.
• No third card is drawn if the Player’s hand is 6 or 7. The Banker might draw a third card in this scenario.
• If either the Player’s or Banker’s hands are 8 or 9, neither hand receives a third card. The winner of the hand is determined immediately.

The banker bet rules follow the same actions. However, they are more complicated because they depend on the hand value the Player is holding. To help, we’ve created this baccarat rules chart.

While the software automatically plays the hand for you in an online baccarat game, you’ll enjoy the game more if you know why you received a card.

The Banker bet has a house edge of 0.79%, but you must pay a 5% commission on winning hands.

Banker’s Hand & Third Card

• If the hand is 0, 1, or 2, the Banker always hits if the Player hits.
• Whenever the Banker’s hand is 3, the Banker hits unless the Player’s hand is 8.
• If the Banker’s hand is 4, the Banker hits on a 2 through 7 but stands on 0, 1, 8, or 9.
• If it is a 5, the Banker hits on a 4 through 7 but stands on a 0, 1, 2, 3, 8, or 9.
• Whenever the hand is a 6, the Banker hits only when the Player’s hand is a 6 or 7.

The tie bet wins if the Player’s hand and Banker’s hand tie. This is relatively rare but has the biggest payout in baccarat. Unfortunately, the house edge is over 15%, making this a sucker bet.