Online Casino

Baccarat, as played in most casinos around the world, is a game of chance in which players bet on one of three different outcomes: Player, Banker, or Tie. Ties are hardly worthwhile, and thus many casinos do not even offer the Tie outcome to bet on, as only beginning players consider wagering on it.

The Baccarat form discussed here is actually just one form of Baccarat, known as punto banco, and it is designed for casino play rather than as a player against player game of Baccarat chemin de fer, which is the kind associated with James Bond. There is no skill involved in punto banco Baccarat. It is purely a casino game, and one of the simpler games on offer once you understand what is going on.

How is Baccarat played in casinos?

Explaining everything a punto banco player needs to know can be done in 4 words: bet on the Banker. This is all that is necessary to know for playing punto banco Baccarat, but the actual rules are somewhat more complex. Knowing them will not give you a better chance of winning than the simple "bet on the Banker" instruction, but it will certainly make playing punto banco Baccarat a more exciting experience.

First of all, when playing in a live casino, there are a number of rules of etiquette that will apply to big table Baccarat. Knowing these etiquette rules does not help you understand the game itself, and it is not a part of online casino Baccarat, so we'll leave them for now.

Bet on the Banker. This is all that is necessary to know for playing punto banco Baccarat.

To begin Baccarat, players first place a bet on Player, Banker or Tie. Winning bets on Player will pay even money, winning bets on Banker normally pay even money minus a 5% commission, but the amount of the commission can vary or the payout amount can be adjusted to 50% of the bet on a win with a score of 6. Tie bets pay 8 to 1 odds at most casinos, but can sometimes be found paying 9 to 1.

Once bets are placed, the Player and Banker positions are each dealt two cards, face down. The deal goes Player, Banker, Player, Banker. The cards are then revealed and the totals added up. The result, minus any tens digit, is the score of the hand. For example, the Player is dealt a 5 and a 7, for a total of 2 points. While the cards add up to 12, Baccarat scoring removes the tens digit to make the score 2.

After the scores are known, the next move depends on the totals. If either Player or Banker has an 8 or 9, both must stand. If the Player score is between 0 and 5, the Player hand hits, getting another card. The Player stands on a 6 or 7.

The Banker action is somewhat more complex, depending on whether the Player hits, what card was drawn, and also the Banker score. If the Player did not hit, the Banker hits on a score of 0 to 5, but otherwise stands. If the Player did hit, then the Banker action depends on what card was drawn to the Player hand.

If the Player drew a 2 or 3, then the Banker hits on a 0 to 4 score. If the Player drew a 4 or 5, then the Banker hits on a 0 to 5 score. If the Player drew a 6 or 7, the Banker hits on a 0 to 6 score. If the Player drew an 8, the Banker hits on a 0 to 2 score. If the Player drew an Ace, face, 9 or 10, then the Banker hits on a 0 to 3 score. The Banker stands if the requirements for drawing are not met.

After the draws have concluded, the final scores are compared. The position with the highest score wins, and all bets on that position win. In the case of an equal score, the bets on a Tie are paid out and all other bets continue for the next round.

Strategy in Punto Banco Baccarat

The optimal strategy in punto banco Baccarat is to bet on the Banker every time. This does not guarantee you a win over the long run – it should simply minimise expected losses. While this strategy is simple to implement, it can appear to be counter-intuitive, so some explanation may be helpful.

First of all, you are probably wondering how the choice of bet with a commission charged on it can be better value than the bet without a commission? If the house is obviously taking money from every hand that you win, surely that is worse value than the other bet that actually pays even money? The answer is that the Banker bet has better odds of winning than the Player bet.

The Banker bet has about a 45.8597% chance of winning, compared to a 44.6247% probability of the Player bet winning.

The advantage of the Banker bet is quite subtle. Casual observance is not going to make it obvious, so don't think that your memories of long stretches of Player wins disproves the fact that the Banker bet has a higher probability of winning. The Banker bet has about a 45.8597% chance of winning, compared to a 44.6247% probability of the Player bet winning. The Tie bet is a 9.5156% chance of winning, but the odds paid out on a Tie make betting on it not worth entertaining.

As Ties do not result in a loss for the Banker or Player bets, their probabilities of winning do not reflect their chances of a loss. Banker bets only lose when the Player bet wins, and vice versa. With a 5% commission on Banker bet wins, and using 8 decks, the house edge for the different bets are 1.06% for the Banker, 1.24% for the Player, and 14.36% on Ties when the payout is the usual 8 to 1. It is sometimes possible to find commissions of lower than 5% on the Banker bet, and this will always be good value. Anything lower than a 2% commission actually turns things in favour of the player, but 4% is about as low as commissions will normally go.

Baccarat, at least the punto banco variety, is not a game designed for strategic players. It's simplicity and drawing rules can make it very exciting for high rollers, however, as fortunes will swiftly change in a high stakes game of Baccarat.