Baccarat Table

The American Baccarat is played at the table which consists of two identical ends and a middle area for the croupier. The typical layout of the baccarat table is shown on the image.

Areas on the Baccarat Table:

Caller ("Croupier")

1. Dealer
2. Dealer
3. Drop Box
4. Discard Trays
5. Tips box

Up to 14 players occupy the seats which correspond to the numbers on the layout. The No. 13 seat is eliminated, because of the superstition that surrounds the number. So, the 14th player will be seated at No. 15. In front of the players is a section for placing wagers.

You may sit in any open seat at the table, the position does not affect the play in any manner.

Each player has three betting areas associated with his position at the table, corresponding to the possible choices at the beginning of each game: "Banker", "Player" or "Tie".

Three dealers service each table. The dealer standing between positions one and 15 (position 1) is known as the "caller" or "croupier", and directs the play of the game and makes calls on the hands.

Two other dealers work on the position 2 and 3. One dealer serves players 1 through 7, the other serves 8 through 14. They pay bets when a player wins and takes bets away on losses. In the croupier area there are numbered boxes, which are used to track how much commission each player owes the house.

Baccarat Betting Rules

There are three betting options in Baccarat:

• Betting on the Player Hand
• Betting on the Bank Hand
• Betting on a Tie Hand

You can bet any amount from the table minimum to the table maximum.

Betting on the Player Hand

By placing your gaming chips in the "Player"area in front of you, you are betting on the player hand.

You win the bet, if the player hand at the end of the round (after all drawing and dealing are done), will be greater than the dealer's. In this case, you are paid even money and charged no commission.

The house edge for this bet is 1.29%.

Betting on the Bank Hand

By placing your gaming chips in the "Banker"area in front of you, you are betting on the Banker hand.

You win the bet, if the banker hand at the end of the round will be greater than the player's. In this case, you are paid even money and charged the standard 5% commission fee on the amount that you won.

In order not to slow down the game, the dealer does not collect the "vigorish" after each round. He pays even money to winning banker bets and keeps records of the commission every player owes. After the finish of a shoe, or when a player wants to leave before the end of a shoe, the dealer will collect the accumulated commission.

When you bet on the "Banker's" hand, the casino has advantage of 1.01%. It is one of the lowest house advantages in the casino .

Betting on a Tie Hand

If you want to bet on the Tie hand, you will place your gaming chips in the "Tie" area or on the number corresponding to your seat. A bet on a Tie pays 8 to 1 without any commission fee.

If there is a tie, bets on the "Banker or "Player" are returned, but you can leave them on the betting area for the next round or increase/decrease your bet.

Tie Bet is the worst bet in baccarat since this bet has a house advantage of 15.75%.

Baccarat Hand Values

The object of the game is to place a bet on the winning hand. Regardless of how many players are at the table, only two hands are dealt: one hand for the banker and another for the player.

Hand Values

All Tens and face cards (jack, queen, and king) are worth zero. The ace is worth "1" and the Two through Nine are worth their face value.

Card suits have no meaning in Baccarat.

The total of the hand, regardless if it consist of two or three card, determined by summing up the values of the cards in the hand.

When the total of the hand is 10 or more, 10 must be subtracted. The remaining total is the card count.

For example, if the first two cards dealt are Jack and 4, the count is four. And 6, 2 and 6, although totaling 14 would count as 4 after subtracting the 10.

7,8=5	10,6=6	Jack,4=4
10,Jack=0	9,Ace=0	Jack,Ace=1
10,4,2=6 6,2,10=4

Firstly, both the banker and the player are dealt two cards, and depending on the value of the hands, might be dealt a third card in either case according to the Baccarat drawing rules.

Baccarat Drawing Rules

Baccarat is a very simple game to play with no decisions made after a bet is placed. The rules are automatic. It means that the Dealer at the table acts according to these rules without consulting players.

The highest total any baccarat hand can have is nine. A two-card total of nine is called a "natural" and cannot lose. An eight is the second-best hand and is also called a natural. If both player and bank are dealt identical hands, it is a standoff (a tie) and neither bank nor player wins.

The dealer gives two cards each to the player and the banker.

•  If either the player or the banker has a total of an 8 or a 9 they both stand. There is no exceptions and this rule overrides all other rules.

•  If the player has total of 6 or 7, the player stands.

•  If the player stands, the banker hits on a total of 5 or less.

•  If the player has total of 5 or less, the player automatically hits and the banker gives the player a third card.

If the player gets the third card then the banker draws a third card according to the following rules:

•  Banker has total of 0, 1, 2: Banker always draws a third card.

•  Banker has total of 3: Banker draws if Player's Third Card is 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-9-0 (not 8)

•  Banker has total of 4: Banker draws if Player's Third Card is 2-3-4-5-6-7

•  Banker has total of 5: Banker draws if Player's Third Card is 4-5-6-7

•  Banker has total of 6: Banker draws if Player's Third Card is of 6-7

•  Banker has total of 7: Banker always stands.

You can use the following table to determine if the Banker hits or stands if the Player has drawn a card.

H - hit, S - stand.

Once the final cards are dealt, the score of the player and dealer are compared.

The winning hand is the one with the greater total.

Baccarat Strategy

Unfortunately, there is no strategy that works for Baccarat as the player has not many options - rules are automatic and after you have made a bet you can only hope on your luck. Any baccarat system that is based on the previous hands (and the bets you have made, if any, on those hands) is useless and should be completely disregarded.

But as for any other casino game there is always room for improvement and if you want to establish an effective baccarat strategy there is a few things to consider:

Don't bet on "Tie"

Playing Baccarat you have only a choice of three bets, but it does not mean you don't have any options at all.

Betting on the Player Hand - the house edge is 1.29%.

Betting on the Bank Hand - the house edge is 1.01%.

Betting on a Tie Hand - the house edge is 15.75%.

The house edge numbers mean that Banker hand wins more often in the long run. Even after paying a 5% commission it is still a slightly better proposition than betting on "Player hand". So, there is only one good bet to make - Bank Hand.

As for betting on Tie hand the casino will pay nine for one odds. Unfortunately, the casino advantage on this bet is over 15%. So, don't bet on "Tie".

Well, it may be a very boring when you have only one good bet to make, but still the game of baccarat has one of the best odds in casino if you know this.

Number of Decks and Commission

You should look for the casino that offers the lower number of decks played and lower commission.

The best choice is the 6 deck card game with 4 percent commission on the winning "Banker" hand.