Baccarat Rules

Basics

As a rule, in brick and mortar casinos Baccarat or Punto Banco is played by up to 12-14 players with three casino dealers.

There are two basic bets to make in Baccarat: Banco or Punto - banker or player, plus the sparsely used Standoff. Some land-based casinos have a dealer to deal the cards while other let the players deal the cards. What concerns online casinos - cards are dealt automatically by a virtual dealer.

Every player, including the one dealing the cards, are able to bet on either Banco or Punto, but the dealer has to bet only on Banco. Also, player may choose not to deal by passing the "Shoe" to the next player. As long as the bank wins the shoe remains with one player. In case Punto wins, next player receives the shoe.

Players bet on which one of the two hands dealt will win, or that they will tie. It is the same as the betting on Red or Black at roulette, and the payoff is 1-to-1, excluding the standoff, which pays 9-to-1 or 8-to-1. There's on slight difference between the Punto and Banco. Win on Banco will cost player 5% commission. This is the in-built advantage of the house. The reason for that commission is that in case of 8-deck card play, the Banco will win 3 to 4 hands more than the Punto.

There is a minimum of two cards and a maximum of three cards for each hand. The dealer will put two cards face down and will give the other two cards, face down to the player with the largest bet on Punto.

After that, the Punto player looks at his cards and gives them back to the dealer (or to the player who is dealing). Then cards of both hands are turned over by the dealer (or the player who is dealing) and the winner is announced.

If one of the hands has a total of 8 or 9 points, it is called a "Natural" and no more cards are dealt. In case this is not a "Natural" the dealer is allowed to deal a third card. However, it depends on the rules of the certain casino.

After all cards are dealt the hand with the highest count wins. The dealer collects losing bets and pays the winning ones.

Rules

Punto Banco or Baccarat is usually played from an eight-deck or six-deck shoe. All tens and face cards have no value. Aces have a value of 1 and cards than 10 are counted at face value. Suits don't matter and only single digit values are valid. Any count that reaches a double digit drops the left digit. 25 and 15 are counted as 5.

At the beginning the player places a bet either on Punto or Banco or Standoff. Then two cards are dealt - first for the player and second for the banker. The object of the game is to place bets on the hand the player thinks will win (will have the highest total value).

Based on the following third-card rules, a third card may be dealt to either or both the bank (Banco) and the player (Punto). However, it is not necessary for the player to know these rules to play because they are obligatory decisions and thereat automatic.

Banker's thrid-card rule:

• If the bank's total is 2 or less then bank draws a card, regardless of what the players third card is.
• If the banks total is 3 then the bank draws a third card unless the players third card was an 8.
• If the banks total is 4 then the bank draws a third card unless the players third card was a 0, 1, 8, or 9.
• If the banks total is 5 then the bank draws a third card if the players third card was 4, 5, 6, or 7.
• If the banks total is 6 then the bank draws a third card if the players third card was a 6 or 7.
• If the banks total is 7 then the bank stands.

Player's third-card rule:

• If either the player or the bank have a total of 8 or 9 on the first two cards no further cards are drawn. The resulting hand is called a natural and the hand is over.
• If the player's total is less than or equal to 5 the player's hand draws a third card.
• If the player does not draw a third card, then the bank's hand stands on 6 or more and takes a third card on a total of 5 or less. If the player does take a third card then the Bank's third-card-rule below will determine if the bank takes a third card.