There are two hands in play when using standard baccarat game rules: player and banker. The player can actually bet on either hand. A win on the player hand will pay out 1:1, while a bet on the banker hand, due to slightly better odds, will cost you a 5% commission from your winnings. Despite that, many players still swear by the banker bet.
Baccarat hand values
Once bets have been placed, both hands receive two cards. Any card between 2 and 9 is worth the value shown on the card, aces are worth 1, and face cards count for 0. Based on these figures, a hand is worth between 0 and 9. For hands worth 10 or more the first digit is ignored. So hands of 16 and 23 are worth six and three respectively.
In most variations of baccarat game rules, the player does not choose whether the player/banker hand receives a third card or not. On a total of eight or nine, the player hand will get no additional cards. The player hand also stands on totals of six or seven, and draws a third card on any total of five or under – unless the banker hand totals eight or nine.
Whether or not the banker hand receives a third card depends on the player’s third card. See the chart below, where S is stands and H is hits, for more information:
Baccarat hand chart
Baccarat bets
For baccarat betting, all you need to think about is whether to bet on the banker hand, player hand, or tie. With a house edge of more than 14%, many players choose to ignore the tie bet entirely. This makes the game pretty straightforward, although as a result many variants switch up the rules of baccarat gambling by offering a range of side bets, too.
These include everything from betting on the suit of cards in a hand – all red/all black, with a payout of 22:1 or 24:1 – to the Bellagio match – a 75:1 payout (or 68:1 on the banker hand) if a hand contains three cards of the same rank. There’s also the dragon bonus, a bet on a hand being a natural 8 or 9 and beating the other hand by a certain margin, which pays out up to 30:1.
As for whether or not side bets are “worth it”, that’s very subjective. They typically have a high house edge and may only hit very rarely, but if you put one on at the right time you’ll feel like the smartest gambler on the planet. We’d recommend using them with caution and only after you’re familiar with the game’s main bets.
Different variations of baccarat rules also help give the game a slightly different flavor. In European baccarat, for example, players can choose whether they want to stand or draw if the value of their hand is five. The banker can choose whether to draw a third card or not. Although European baccarat isn’t very common online, some software providers throw equivalent quirks like this one into their games.