What Is Baccarat Game - Rules, Strategies & Complete Guide

Introduction

Baccarat is one of the iconic card games in the gambling world. It is often associated with high rollers and casinos, but beneath its luxurious name lies a simple game that anyone can play. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced player, this guide will walk you through everything you need about baccarat. Everything from baccarat history to baccarat game rules to strategies is covered.

What Is Baccarat?

Baccarat is one of Casinos' oldest and most popular card games. It is a simple card game with three common variants played worldwide. The game is played between a ‘banker’ and a ‘player’, and each round is called a coup.

The terms player and banker denote the two sides of play and have no connotation to the player, house, or dealer. A baccarat game has three possible outcomes - a player win, a banker win, and a tie. All players can bet on any of these outcomes. The origin of baccarat traces back to 15th-century Italy, where it was first played using tarot cards.

A game of Baccarat is played with eight cards in a shoe on a Baccarat table. Due to the game's simplicity, it is trendy among casual Casino visitors who don’t want to invest too much time and skill in their Casino visits.

Core Traits of Baccarat:

• There are two core players: the player and the banker. These are just betting options, not actual people.
• The dealer draws and distributes the cards but does not participate in betting.
• Baccarat is played with eight decks of cards.
• Each round is called a coup, during which the player and banker receive two cards.
• The objective is to bet on which hand — player or banker — will have a total closest to 9 or to bet on a tie.

How to Play Baccarat in a Casino

The objective of the Game

The goal of Baccarat is to get a hand value closest to 9. You don’t have to memorise complicated strategies. You just place your bet and let the dealer handle the rest.

Card Values in Baccarat

• All the numbered cards are worth their face value.
• Aces are worth 1.
• 10, Jacks, Queens, and Kings are worth 0.

When you add card values, you only take the last digit of the total counts. For example, If you have 7 and 8, the total will be 15. Hence, the final value will be 5.

Game Play

In casinos, you can play Baccarat cash games by presenting your cash to the casino dealer, who will provide you with chips to play the game. For this game, the bets are made before the cards are dealt. After all the bets have been placed, a player or Casino operator will deal two cards each to the player and the banker.

In Baccarat, the card ranks are regarded as their values. The game's objective is to reach nine without going over. All you have to do is sit on the table and bet since the dealer will make all the calculations. 

For instance,

• The player’s hand has a 5 and 6, and the banker’s has a three and a 5. In this example, the player’s total is 11, and the final value is 1. On the other hand, the banker's hand is a natural 8. So, no more cards will be dealt, and the game will be declared in favour of the banker.
• The player has a pair of aces, and the banker has a pair of queens. The player’s total would be 2, and the banker’s total would be 0. One more card will be dealt to both sides until the game concludes. The pair bets for both sides will also be paid regardless of the game's outcome.

Deals are slightly in favour of the banker’s side, so if you win on a banker’s bet, the Casino gets a 5% commission. Any number of players can sit on a Baccarat table at a time and play the game.

What Are the Most Important Rules of a Baccarat Game?

Card Value in Baccarat

If you are new to Baccarat, you should keep the following rules in mind while playing the game:

• The value of cards from 2 to 9 is their number, with the value of the Ace card as 1. 
• The value of the 10, J, Q, and K cards is 0, and Jokers are not used in a Baccarat game.
• If the total of both cards goes over 10, then the tens digit of the total is disregarded, and the ones digit is considered the hand value.
• If the player or dealer’s card total reaches a natural 8 or 9, the hand is over, and no more cards are dealt.

Third Card Rule Explained

Some other rules that must be followed by both the player and the baker for drawing a 3rd card are:

• If the player’s initial total is less than 5, they draw a third card. If the player has an initial total of 6 or 7, they stand as is.
• If the player doesn’t need to draw a third card, the banker regards only their hand, draws a third card with hands of 5 or less, and stands with 6 or 7.

If the player draws a third card, the banker acts according to the following more complex rules:

• If the banker’s total is 2 or less, they draw a third card regardless of the player's third card.
• If the banker’s total is 3, they draw a third card unless the player's third card is an 8.
• If the banker's total is 4, they draw a third card if the player's third card is 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7.
• If the banker's total is 5, they draw a third card if the player's third card is 4, 5, 6, or 7.
• If the banker’s total is 6, they draw a third card if the player's third card is a 6 or 7.
• If the banker’s total is 7, they stand.
• Losing bets are collected, and winning bets are paid according to the house rules. The player can also bet whether either side will end up with a pair.
• If both hands have the same value, tie bets are paid, and the player or banker bets remain active for the next game. In some Casinos, players can retrieve these bets if they don’t want to continue betting.

The payout structure followed by most casinos for baccarat games is as follows:

Popular Baccarat Variants Explained

Below is a brief overview of the baccarat versions and online baccarat variants you must familiarise yourself with before playing an official game.

Punto Banco

Punto banco is the most common type of Baccarat played in Casinos. For this variation, the drawing rules are fixed for all games. The cards are dealt from a dealer’s shoe containing 6 to 8 decks of cards that have been shuffled together for maximum variation. 

A cut card is placed before the last 7th card of the shoe and indicates that the shoe has run out. The dealer burns the first card and the number of cards its value suggests. It is one of the most popular games in a Casino and accounts for more than 90% of revenue in most major Casinos worldwide.

Mini-Baccarat

Mini-Baccarat is a miniature version of a regular Baccarat game. It is played on smaller tables and has smaller minimum/maximum bets than regular Baccarat. The house edge, odds of winning, and payout can differ from Casino to Casino. The game has various play options, such as Super 6, Punto 2000, Dragon 7, EZ-Baccarat, Panda 8, etc.

Chemin de Fer

Chemin de fer is a faster version of the game played outside the Casino. In this version, the players function as the banker, and the banker's position switches counterclockwise within the group for each game. The banker makes the first bet on the amount of money he is willing to wager.

Following this, other players can match the banker’s bet, i.e., “go bank” or make standalone wagers that total up to the banker’s bet. The dealing options and payout depend on the players playing the game.

Baccarat Banque

Though very similar to Chemin de fer, there is a slight difference in how Baccarat banque is played. In the Baccarat banque, the banker’s position is fixed. The shoe contains three inter-shuffled decks, and the banker’s position can’t be changed unless the banker runs out of money or all the cards in the croupier have been dealt with.

Macao

Macao is a precursor of Baccarat, in which two decks are shuffled together, and players/punters place their bets against the banker. The player receives individual cards, and the objective is to beat the banker’s card value, or they risk losing their bets.

Best Baccarat Strategies for Beginners

A Baccarat game relies a lot on chance, so it might seem impossible to strategise in this game. However, certain strategies can help you gain an edge over other players when playing Baccarat. Some important things to remember when playing Baccarat are to keep practising different strategies, shop around till you reach your favourite strategy, and finally, have fun playing! Below are the strategies, such as the baccarat betting system, banker strategy, and card pattern strategy, to help you win:

The Baccarat Martingale

It is the most popular strategy among Baccarat players. For this strategy, you must double your bet amount for every hand you lose to offset the value of your lost rounds. The strategy is flexible, and you can adjust it to your preferred minimum and maximum bet limits.

Side with the Banker

Typically, the banker has a slightly higher chance of winning in Baccarat, so if you stick with the banker’s bet for multiple rounds, you eventually will win more than you will lose. However, there is no guarantee that the banker will win time.

Focus on Pair Bets

The pair bets have the highest return potential due to the highest payout value. To win with this strategy, you must exclusively bet on pair bets. For every win, you will receive 11x the amount you lost so that it will offset the value of your loss.

Baccarat Fibonacci

If you’re unfamiliar with the Fibonacci series, it is a series of numbers in which each number except the first two is a sum of the previous two numbers. For this strategy, you must decide your minimum bet value and only bet on a Fibonacci series. If you lose, you move one round lower on the sequence, and if you win, you move up on the sequence.

The James Bond

For the James bond strategy, you must pre-decide the maximum value of your bet on each round and split it across the board. For example, if you bet Rs. 200 in a round, you must bet Rs. 140 out of it on the banker, Rs. 50 on the player and Rs. 10 on the tie. Since you are betting on all outcomes, your profit chances increase.

The 3 2 System

While following this strategy, you must bet five equal chips during each round. For instance, you bet three chips on the player and two on the banker during the first round. In the next round, the order would reverse and so on.

The 1 3 2 6 System

Similar to the Fibonacci strategy, this strategy follows a series. The 1 3 2 6 series represents the number of chips you would bet in each round. You can modify the value of the sequence as per your preference and move up and down the series as you win and lose. Your bets must be focused on player or banker bets rather than pair or tie bets, as they have a higher probability of winning.

The Reverse Martingale

The reverse martingale is a modified version of the martingale strategy. It dictates that instead of doubling the bet amount every time you lose, you must double it if you win and halve it if you lose. It focuses on limiting the amount of loss during the entire game.

Side with the Player

It is similar to the side with the banker strategy with one distinct difference - you must side with the player during all rounds. The odds of winning are slightly lower on the player’s side, but the payout is also slightly higher since it does not include the Casino’s commission.

The Mix Up

Mix-up is an incredibly flexible strategy that allows players to switch up their bets as they want. For this strategy, you must set a strict guideline on how many identical bets you will place. Once you reach the number, you can switch to another bet and cycle through all the types of bets until the end of the game.

Baccarat Tutorial – Types of Bets

Baccarat has only two best types, making it easy to learn. Let’s understand each in detail:

Baccarat Main Bets

There are three main types of Baccarat bets:

• Player Bet: You bet on a player whether they will win the hand or not. If they win, you get your betting amount and a little extra.
• Banker Bet: You bet that banker hand will win. This is similar to a player’s bet.
• Tie Bet: You bet that both hands will have the same value. The payout is higher as it is less likely to happen.

Side Bets

Some versions allow you to make a side bet in Baccarat.

• Banker or Player Bets: You bet that the banker and the player will have two cards of the same value.
• Tie Value: Some variations allow you to bet on a specific tie value.

Origins and Pop Culture References Around Baccarat

It's hard to pin down the exact origin of the Baccarat. Though some sources indicate it originated around the 15th century, others claim it originated in the 19th century. It was undeniably the most popular game among the French nobility since the 19th century.

Baccarat is a familiar presence in pop culture due to its immense popularity. Most notably, it was depicted as James Bond 007’s favourite card game in the novels by Ian Fleming. It was also featured in other popular media like A Hard Day's Night, Rush Hour 3, etc.

Top 7 Baccarat Tips– How to Win

Here are some tips on how to win at baccarat:

• Always Bet on the Banker: The best bet is the banker’s bet.  It has the lowest house edge despite paying a 5% commission on wins.
• Avoid the Tie Bet: Avoid the tie bet even if it offers you the highest betting amount. Tie bets have a house edge of over 4%.
• Set a Bankroll Limit: Play responsibly by setting a betting limit. Keep a certain sum of money aside and use only that to play.

• Don’t Chase Losses: It's essential to know when to stay in the game and when to walk away. You might lose more when you choose to lose and bet more to recover what you have, which can result in emotional, irrational decisions. 

• Ignore Pattern Tracking: Baccarat is a game of chance, and every hand is independent of the previous ones. This means tracking past results won’t improve your odds.

• Play Short Sessions: The longer you play, the more likely House Edge will take your bankroll. 

• Know When to Walk Away: Always have a plan and decide when to stop, especially after a good win or when you hit your loss.

Online Baccarat vs Casino Baccarat – What’s the Difference?

Frequently Asked Questions

Is baccarat a game of skill or luck?

Baccarat is primarily a game of chance, as the random card distribution determines each hand's outcome.

Can you count cards in baccarat?

Yes, technically, it is possible to run count in Baccarat. However, it is generally not considered a practical or effective strategy.

Is baccarat better than blackjack?

The answer is subjective. You can play both the games and decide which one is better.

How do I practice baccarat for free?

You can use online apps and resources with demos or tutorials to play baccarat for free.

How does Baccarat work?

Baccarat is a Casino card game played with a standard deck of 52 cards. The dealer deals the cards on two sides: the banker and the dealer. The hand with the higher value wins.

What is the best strategy for Baccarat?

The Baccarat Martingale is the most popular strategy among Baccarat players. For this strategy, you must double your bet amount for every hand you lose to offset the value of your lost rounds. The strategy is flexible, and you can adjust it to your preferred minimum and maximum bet limits.

What is the best bet in Baccarat?

Banker bet is the best bet. It has the lowest house edge despite paying a 5% commission on wins.

What is the objective of the game Baccarat?

The aim is to predict the winning hand correctly, bet on it and win.

What makes Baccarat popular among rich players?

The game has a low house edge. Casinos also offer high betting limits in dedicated VIP areas.

Conclusion

The Baccarat game offers a mix of simplicity and excitement, perfect for both beginners and experienced players. Understand the rules and gameplay of the game. Practice will help you understand the game quickly. Call your friends or select a platform and play the demo game. Ready to try your luck? Start with free Baccarat games online and test these strategies!