How to Play Baccarat

1. Bet. Place your stake on Player, Banker or Tie. Many tables also offer side bets, such as a pair on either hand's first two cards; they are optional and settled separately.

2. The deal. Two cards go to Player and two to Banker, all face up.

3. The natural check. If either hand totals 8 or 9 on its first two cards, that is a natural. The round stops there and the higher total wins.

4. Third cards. Otherwise Player's hand draws or stands by its total, and Banker's hand then draws or stands by its own total and, if Player drew, by the value of Player's third card. No hand ever takes more than three cards.

5. Settle. The hand closer to 9 wins. Equal totals are a tie. Only the last digit of a total ever counts, so a hand cannot go over 9 and cannot bust.

Add the cards and keep only the last digit. A 7 and an 8 make 15, which counts as 5. A 9, a 9 and a 4 make 22, which counts as 2. A king and a queen count as 0, the lowest total there is. Suits play no part in the main game.

A natural is a two-card total of 8 or 9. It ends the round immediately: neither hand draws, a natural 9 beats a natural 8, and two equal naturals tie. A natural 8 still loses to a natural 9, but it beats any total the other hand could have reached by drawing, because the other hand never gets the chance.

With eight decks, the Player hand is dealt a natural in 18.94% of rounds and the Banker hand in the same share, and at least one of the two has a natural in 34.30% of rounds, roughly one round in 2.92. Both hands have one at once in 3.58%.

Player is decided first and needs only its own total: draw on 0 to 5, stand on 6 or 7. Banker is decided second. If Player stood, Banker follows the same simple rule as Player. If Player drew, look up Banker's total on the left and the value of Player's third card in the last column; for any third card not listed there, Banker stands. A third card counts at its own value, with 10s and picture cards as 0.

Player draws, Banker responds. Player has an ace and a 3, a total of 4. Banker has a 10 and a 5, a total of 5. Neither is a natural, so Player draws on 4 and receives a 7: the hand is now 11, which counts as 1. Banker holds 5, and Player's third card is a 7, which is in the 4 to 7 range, so Banker draws. A 2 brings Banker to 7, and Banker wins 7 to 1.

Player stands, Banker draws. Player has a king and a 7, a total of 7, and stands. Because Player did not draw, Banker uses the simple rule: draw on 0 to 5. Banker's 2 and 3 make 5, so Banker draws, receives a 4 and finishes on 9. Banker wins 9 to 7.

Banker stands on a low total and still wins. Player has a 9 and a 4, which make 13 and count as 3, and draws an 8: the hand is 11, counting as 1. Banker has a jack and a 3, a total of 3. With a total of 3, Banker draws on every third card except an 8, so here it stands, and its 3 beats Player's 1. It is the least intuitive line in the table, and it shows how much of Banker's decision rests on the card Player drew.

Across all rounds, the Player hand takes a third card in 50.34% of them and the Banker hand in 43.54%. A round uses 4.9388 cards on average.

Player pays even money, 1 to 1: a winning stake of 10 returns the 10 plus 10 more.

Banker pays even money less a 5% commission on the win, written 0.95 to 1: a winning stake of 20 returns the 20 plus 19. Commission-free tables swap the 5% for a reduced payout on one particular Banker win, and that trade has a guide of its own.

Tie pays 8 to 1 at most tables and 9 to 1 at some. When the hands tie, Banker and Player bets are neither won nor lost: they are handed back and can be left in place for the next round. When either hand wins, Tie bets lose.

What each bet costs over time, and why Banker is the cheapest of the three despite the commission, is on the baccarat odds page.

The baccarat played online and in most casinos is punto banco: punto is Player, banco is Banker, the house banks every bet, and the drawing rule above is applied with no exceptions. Everything on these pages describes punto banco unless it says otherwise.

Chemin de fer and baccarat banque are older forms in which players take the bank themselves. In chemin de fer the bank passes around the table, and the player holding it stakes the money the others bet against. Some draws are left to the players: the player facing the bank may choose to draw or stand on a total of 5, and the banker has freedom at certain totals. In baccarat banque the bank stays with one person for longer and plays against two player hands at once. Because the outcome depends on those choices, neither form has one fixed set of odds the way punto banco does.

You will not often meet either online. When a game carries one of these names, its rules screen says whether the drawing is fixed or left to you.

These names describe the table, not the rules. Mini baccarat seats fewer players, usually at lower limits, with one dealer handling every card. Speed and squeeze tables change only the tempo, one hurrying the round and the other slowing the reveal, and both are described in the live dealer guide.

At all three, the counting, the drawing table and the payouts are exactly as set out above. To watch the rule run hand after hand, open any of the free baccarat games; none of them asks for a stake.