Baccarat is a card game with three outcomes: player, banker and tie. The core rules are fixed by the game rather than by any brand, so this page sets out the standard rules and the points that vary from table to table.
Two hands of two cards are dealt, one to the player and one to the banker. A natural of eight or nine on the first two cards ends the round. If neither hand is a natural, the third-card rules decide whether either side draws. The hand closest to nine wins, and two equal hands make a tie.
Most baccarat tables offer three core bets. Payouts and commission rules are set by the table, so read the table information before you place a stake.
Pays even money when the player hand finishes closer to nine than the banker hand. Check the table limits shown before you stake.
Pays even money on most tables, less a commission on winning banker bets. The commission rate should be shown on the table information panel.
Pays at a higher rate than the other two bets and wins only on an equal hand. Ties are less frequent, so the tie bet carries a much higher house edge.
The house edge is the long-run share of each bet that the house keeps. In the standard game it is lowest on the banker bet and highest on the tie bet. A return figure shown by a table is a theoretical average, not a promise for one session.
With a 5 percent commission, the banker bet's house edge is about 1.06 percent over the long run. That is the lowest edge of the three main bets.
The player bet has a house edge of about 1.24 percent over the long run, with no commission charged on the stake.
On a standard 8 to 1 payout, the tie bet carries a house edge of about 14 percent, which makes it the least efficient of the three.
Table questions are usually answered on the rules panel, the table limits and the support route on the operator's site. Keep the round history if you think a result was recorded wrongly.
Read the rules panel for the table you join. Tables can differ on commission, the number of decks and side bets.
Save a screenshot of your bet and the result. A clear record makes a support query faster and shows what was on screen at the time.
Contact the operator through the address you confirmed on its own site. Never share your login details with anyone who claims to speak for a table.
Live baccarat streams a real dealer and the cards, which makes each round easy to follow. Trust still depends on the license, the stream and the account controls you set.
The live feed should show the dealer and each card reveal in real time. A frozen stream or a delayed result is a reason to stop betting.
Minimum and maximum stakes are shown on the table. Check them before you sit down.
Set a deposit limit in your account, and decide your own session length and loss ceiling before you join a table. Limits only help once they are active.
Reported terms prohibit anyone under 18 from using the service, so confirm your eligibility before you join a table.
Short definitions for the words you will see on the table and in its rules.
A first two-card total of eight or nine. A natural ends the round at once, with no third card drawn.
The fee taken from winning banker bets, commonly five percent on standard tables. Check the rate on the table before you bet.
The box that holds the cards for a run of rounds. Table information often shows how many decks the shoe contains.
A card drawn under the fixed third-card rules. It is dealt automatically, so a player does not choose it.
On a tie, player and banker bets are normally returned unless the table rules say otherwise. Read the rules before you rely on that.
Answers apply to the standard game. Check your table for any rule that has been changed.
Each round is decided by the cards dealt under fixed rules, so no strategy changes the long-run result. Systems that claim otherwise do not change the house edge.
In the standard game the banker bet has the lowest house edge once the commission is included. The commission reduces its payout, so the edge is still small but not zero.
They can. Commission, the number of decks and side bets vary, so read the rules panel before the first hand.
No. Past rounds do not change the chance of the next card, so a pattern on the scoreboard is a coincidence.
Only adults who meet the age requirement in the terms. Reported terms bar anyone under 18 from using the service.
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