(Above is a traditional Baccarat table)
Card Game Rules
Originating in mid 19th century France, Baccarat, or Punto Banco, is a casino type game that requires no technical skill to play. Often played for high stakes, Baccarat can be found in the big money sections of most European and Nevadan casinos. The objective of Baccarat is to bet on the hand you guess will be as close to or equal to 9.
For more casino type games, check out our guides for Thirty One and Blackjack.
Rank of Cards
In Baccarat, Aces are low, 10s and face cards are worth 0, and all other cards are worth their pip value.
How to Play
To begin the game, players simply must walk up to a Baccarat table and place a bet on either of the three outcomes: your hand winning, the banker’s hand wining, or a tie.
Player
If you bet on your hand winning and win, you will receive a payout of 1:1. The house has a 1.24% edge over the player.
Banker
If you bet on the Banker’s hand wining and win, you will receive a payout of 1:1. You will, however, have to pay the house a 5% commission on your winnings from the Banker’s hands. The house has a 1.06% edge over the player.
Tie
If you bet on a tie and win, you will receive a payout of 8:1 (sometimes 9:1) The house, however, has a 14.36% edge over the player.
When bets are made, the dealer will draw 2 or 3 cards for the player’s and Banker’s hand. The closest hand to 9 wins.
If a hand exceeds 10, 10 is then subtracted from the hand. For example, a hand of 8 and 5 is 3 (13-10). Neither the Dealer nor the player decide if a third card is drawn. Instead, the rules of Baccarat determine this, as illustrated by the chart below.
For more information about Baccarat and its rules, check out Wikipedia's article here and Pagat's article here.
Looking for more card games to play? Check out this article:
40+ Great Card Games For All Occasions
Recommended product for casino type games.
If you want to know more about the world of gambling and casinos, check out this book by Hugh Miller here.
Interview with Inside the Casino
John Nielsen from Inside the Casino interviewed us during the summer of 2018. They know all about casino games and equipment and we were happy to talk with them about the playing card industry. You may view the interview here
About the author: John Taylor is a content writer and freelancer through the company Upwork.com. You may view his freelancing profile here. He has a B. A. in English, with a specialty in technical writing, from Texas A&M University and a M. A. in English from the University of Glasgow. You may view his previous articles about card games here and his LinkedIn profile here.
