How to Play Baccarat

If you are new to the game, don’t be nervous, this is a really easy game to learn, play and master. The best advice we can give to a new player is to read our basic instructions and before you go out and start playing for money, practice a few hands in an online casino that offers free play with this game. There are lots of free games out there with some even offering a free tutorial as you play. This will help you feel comfortable before you hit the “real money” tables. There is no need to waste any precious gambling funds on trial and error. We have recommended a few online casinos here that offer this sort of game. The object of the game is to bet on the hand that you believe will end up totaling closest to 9. You can have three options when it comes to betting, 1 – betting that the players hand (your hand) will win, 2- betting that the bankers (or dealers) hand will win and 3 – betting that the hands will tie. If you’ve bet that the bankers or the players hands will win and it does in fact win then you are paid out 1-1 or even money (if you bet $10 and you win, you will be paid the original $10 plus anther $10, totaling $20). Most casinos charge a 5% commission on any bets that win on the banker’s hand. If you took the chance and bet that the hands will tie (have the same value) then you will be paid out 8 – 1 (so if you bet the $10 on this hand, you will be paid out the original $10 plus $80 more, 8 times your bet). If there is a tie and you had bet on banker or player, your money is returned to you.

Each round begins by the players placing their bets. If they wish to bet on the player’s hand, they will place their bet the corresponding area on the table, same goes for banker bets and tie bets. The dealer now deals two separate hands, the banker hand and the player hand, consisting of two cards each. The cards values are set at face value for the cards numbered 2 – 9, Aces are valued at 1 and 10’s and face cards are valued at 0. If either hand totals 8 or 9 exactly with these first two cards, it is said to be “natural” and automatically wins. If neither hands are a natural the play continues, starting with the player’s hand. If the total of this hand is 6 or 7, the hand must stand at that number. But if the total is 5 or less then another card is drawn. Up to three cards can be drawn per hand if totals don’t reach 6 – 9. Then the bankers hand is played in the same way (only in some games the dealer will only stand on 7 and draw with 6 or less) and once finished, the hand that is closer to 9 is the winner.

The complicated part is, what happens if your cards total higher than 9. There is no way to bust a hand in baccarat and all hands will never total more than 9. For example, if the first two cards are 7 and 6, totaling 13, you remove the one (or subtract 10) and the total becomes 3. If the next card drawn is a 10, the total remains 3. If the next card drawn is a 9 your total now lowers to 2 (9 + 3 = 12 – 10 = 2).