Baccarat is totally a game of chance. The players bet on any of the two hands dealt which they think will have a value closest to 9. The player can bet on either the banker’s hand or the player’s hand or he can even choose to bet on a tie between the two.

Card Distribution

In the game of baccarat, two cards are dealt in two hands on the table, one of which is referred to as the player’s hand and the other one is referred to as the banker’s hand. If the player’s card value is between 0 and 5 and the dealer’s card value is between 0 and 7, the player’s hand gets a third card. If the player’s hand has a card value greater than 5, then the player does not get a third card. The banker’s hand gets a third card if it is shows a value of 0, 1, or 2.

Baccarat Card Values

Cards 2 to 9 are valued as their face value. All face cards and tens cards are valued as zero, and an Ace card is valued as one. A total hand value is calculated by adding the values of all the cards in hand by modulo 10 division which means that after adding the values of the cards, the result is divided by 10 and then the remainder becomes the total card value.

Baccarat Rules

Baccarat is played with a six-deck or an eight-deck shoe. The banker and the player each gets two cards. If either the player or banker has a total card value of 8 or 9, both stand. If the player's total is 6 or 7, the player stands. If the player stands, the banker hits on a total of 5 or less. If the player's total is 5 or less, the player hits and the banker give the player a third card. If the player receives a third card then the banker draws a third card according to some predefined rules.

Baccarat rules for Player’s third-card

If either the player or the banker’s hand has a total of 8 or 9 on the first two cards, then no more cards are drawn. If the player's hand total 6 or more, then the player must stand without drawing a third card. If the player's hand total 5 or less, then the player must draw a third card.

Baccarat rules for Banker’s third-card

If the bank's hand is less than or equal to 2, the banker draws a third card. If the banker’s hand is 3, then the banker draws a third card only if player’s third card is not an 8. If the banker’s hand is 4, then the banker draws a third card only if the player's third card is not a 0, 1, 8 or 9. If the banker’s hand is 5, then the banker draws a third card only if the player’s third card is a 4, 5, 6 or 7. If the banker’s hand is 6, then the banker draws a third card only if the player’s third card is a 6 or 7. And finally the banker stands if its total is 7 or higher.

House advantage:

For Banker’s hand: 1.17%
For Player’s hand: 1.36%
For a Tie: 14.12% at 8:1 payout