Online Gambling Baccarat Guide

Rules

There are two hands played in baccarat: The player hand and the banker hand. You can bet on either one, and if the hand you bet on wins, you receive an even money (1:1) payoff. There is one other bet you can make, called the tie bet.  If you make this bet and the two hands tie, you receive an 8:1 payoff. Ties, however, occur less than once out of every ten hands.

Each hand receives 2 cards at the beginning. When necessary, the dealers will draw additional cards according to the rules. The hand closest to a value of 9 wins. 

10s, jacks, queens, and kings all have a value of 0. The ace through 9 cards have values of 1 to 9, respectively. To determine the value of each hand, you simply add the cards. If the total is over 10, the first digit is ignored. So an 8 and a 6, when added up, would normally equal 14, but in baccarat, we disregard the first digit, and instead end up with a value of 4. Similarly, a 6 and 4 would equal 0, and a 10 and 9 would equal 9. The suit does not matter.

Play begins by all players betting either on the 'player', 'banker', or a tie.

After all bets are down the dealer gives two cards each to the player and the banker. The score of the hand is the right digit of the total of the cards. For example if the two cards were an 8 and 7, then the total would be 15, and the score would be a 5. The scores will always range from 0 to 9 and it is impossible to bust.

If the first two cards total 9, the hand is called a natural, and it automatically wins. A two-card hand totaling 8 is also referred to as a natural, and it wins automatically too, unless the hand it is playing against has a natural as well. When both hands have a natural, the higher natural hand wins (9 beating an 8). If the hands have equal value, it is a tie. 

When neither hand has a natural, there is no automatic winner, and the dealers draw additional cards to determine the winning hand.

A third card may or may not be dealt to either or both the player and the dealer depending on the following rules.

1. If either the player or the banker has a total of an 8 or a 9 they both stand. This rule overrides all other rules.

2. If the player's total is 5 or less then the player hits, otherwise the player stands.

3. If the player stands, then the banker hits on a total of 5 or less. If the player does hit then use the chart below to determine if the banker hits (H) or stands (S).