Table Game Rules: Baccarat Rules

The Basics

Pronounced Back-a-rah, this classic card game is probably one of the simplest table games to learn and play, with just three possible outcomes to bet on. These bets are ‘Player' to win, ‘Banker' to win, or a ‘Tie' bet. In classic Baccarat the ‘Player' is not necessarily the customer betting, nor does the casino's croupier managing the table automatically play as ‘Banker'.

The central aim when playing Baccarat is to predict which of two dealt hands, the Banker's or the Player's, will ultimately achieve a value closest to ‘9'. The third alternative is that the two hands will tie. How each hand's value is assessed is covered in detail below.

Details of Play

When playing Bacarat at any of the UK online casinos we list, you'll encounter an onscreen recreation of the classic casino table layout. You may encounter options to play a single player or multi-player format of this game, however the mechanics of play and the essential rules will be the same whichever you choose.

Baccarat uses several standard decks of playing cards, which are shuffled and placed in a common casino device called a ‘shoe' from which they are dealt sequentially (it is typical for the UK online casinos we've reviewed to play with eight virtual decks loaded in their onscreen shoe). A game commences with the croupier passing the show to the first player on his right, who may cut the deck and, by doing so, assume the role of Banker for that hand. If that player declines to cut the deck, the shoe is passed to the next player on the right to make the same decision. In the event that no player at the Baccarat table chooses to cut the deck, the shoe is returned to the croupier who proceeds to execute the cut and thus play as Banker for that hand.

After the Banker has been established the croupier draws one card from the shoe. This card is revealed and its value determines how many further cards from the shoe must be discarded (or ‘burned). So, for example, if the first card drawn is a ‘3', the next three cards from the shoe are discarded. Picture cards have the value ‘10', whilst Aces count as ‘1'.

Following this preparation of the shoe by the croupier, it is passed to the Banker for the hand, and players place their bets. The bets in Baccarat are placed by players simply putting the desired number of chips in one of the three spaces shown on the table layout to cover the choice of Player, Banker or Tie bets. In online casino versions of Baccarat players usually have a ‘Deal' or ‘Pass' button to choose to bet on, or skip a hand, and there is often a time limit within which that decision must be made before they are excluded automatically from that hand.

Once all the players at the table have bet as they wish, or opted out of the hand, the Player and Banker are both dealt a hand of two cards from the shoe, face up and their values counted. In the circumstance that a hand's sum value exceeds ‘9', the rule in Baccarat is that you then deduct ‘10' from the hand to rank it. For example, 6 +7 = 13, so for the purposes of this game such a hand would count as ‘3' (13-10).

Following this initial deal, a third and final card may be dealt to either of the two hands according to the ‘Third Card Rule' explained below. Once both hands are complete whichever of the Banker or the Player has the hand value closest to ‘9' wins.

The Third Card Rule

After the initial deal, should either of the two hands be a ‘natural, totalling ‘8' or ‘9', both hands stand i.e. no more cards are to be dealt.

If neither the Banker nor the Player are holding a ‘natural' a third card is dealt according to the following rules:

	Deal Third Card?
1st Deal's Hand Value	Players Hand	Bankers Hand
0	Yes	Yes
1	Yes	Yes
2	Yes	Yes
3	Yes	NO if Player's 3rd card is an 8.
4	Yes	NO if Player's 3rd card is a 0,1,8 or 9.
5	Yes	YES if Player's 3rd card is a 4,5, 6 or 7
6	No	YES if Player's 3rd card is a 6 or 7.
7	No	No

Payouts

The traditional payouts of winning bets at a Baccarat table are:

‘Player' paid 1 to 1. ‘Banker' paid 1 to 1, however the house (i.e. the casino you're playing) takes a commission, which is usually in the region of 5%. ‘Tie' paid 8 to 1.

Playing Online

All the UK online casinos we recommend offer very good Baccarat games. Each of them has their own published game guide and it is worth taking time to read these ahead of play to confirm how their specific software delivers this game, and check if there are any variations in the basic rules we've set out above. Where the casino includes a demo or ‘for fun' mode, it can be useful to play a few hands with that facility to become familiar with the software's controls before you commence any real-money betting.