How to play live Baccarat

Baccarat is one of the oldest casino games in the history of gambling. Dating back over 500 years, you might have seen it more recently in famous James Bond movies like the original Casino Royale.

Learning how to play live baccarat online is easy. The live dealer will deal two hands to the table – the ‘Player’s’ and the ‘Banker’s’. The Banker in baccarat does not refer to the house and the Player does not relate to you – they are just two parties to bet on. Only these two hands will be dealt irrespective of how many players are at the table. The object of the game is to predict the winning hand. You’ll place your bet on whether you think the Player will win, or the Banker will win. You can also predict a draw in baccarat.

With just one decision to make per hand, live baccarat is easy to understand and enjoyable to play. As it’s so simple, it’s a great gateway into table games and is enjoyed by novice and experienced players alike.

While there is no real strategy to master, understanding the pre-determined rules of baccarat will help you to get to grips with the game and understand what’s going on at the table.

Live baccarat rules

• In live baccarat, you will bet on the hand that you think will win. The winning hand is that which has a total closest to 9
• When all bets are placed, the Player’s and the Banker’s hands are dealt their initial two cards
• To win, your bet must be on the hand that totals closer to nine, but doesn’t exceed it
• If the Player’s or the Banker’s hand on the initial deal totals 8 or 9, it’s called a ‘natural’ hand.
• If the opposing hand has a lower point value, then the natural hand wins and no further cards are drawn
• If none of the hands has a natural hand, then more cards will be dealt
• It is not possible to ‘bust’ in Baccarat. When the sum of cards dealt is greater than 9, the second digit is the value of the hand. For example, if a hand totals 16, with the first digit dropped, this becomes 6
• If a hand has total of 10, for example a 7 and a 3 have been dealt, the total is equal to 0. This hand is called Baccarat
• The Player’s hand will always be dealt first
•  The Player will stand on a total of 6 or 7. If the Player stands and the Banker has a total of 7, that hand wins
•  If the Player stands and the Banker’s hand is a total of 6, the Banker will ‘hit’ and be dealt another card
• With a total of 5 or less, the Player will be dealt a third card
• All other Banker drawing rules are dependent on the third card the Player draws:

o If the Player’s third card is 9, 10, face-card or Ace, the Banker draws when he has a 0-3, and stands with a 4-7
o If the Player’s third card is 8, the Banker draws when he has a 0-2, and stands with a 3-7
o If the Player’s third card is 6 or 7, the Banker draws when he has a 0-6
o If the Player’s third card is 4 or 5, the Banker draws when he has a 0-5, and stands with a 6-7
o If the Player’s third card is 2 or 3, the Banker draws when he has a 0-4, and stands with a 5-7

• There are three possible outcomes: A Player win, a Banker win and a less common draw or tie.

The below table also summarises when each hand will stand or be dealt a third card:

Live baccarat scoring

• Live baccarat is played with 8 decks of cards
• Cards numbered 2 – 9 are counted at their face value
• 10s and picture cards count as zero
• An ace is worth 1
• When the sum of cards dealt is greater than 9, only the last digit or ‘unit value’ is counted
• A hand with a total equal to 0 is called Baccarat

Live baccarat odds

• If you bet on the player hand and it has the closest total to nine, the winnings are equal to your bet
• If you bet on the banker hand and it wins, it pays 19/20

Further live baccarat bets

If regular live baccarat betting isn’t exciting enough, the good news is that our online live casino offers a choice of side bets to spice things up. With rewarding returns of up to 200:1, you can also bet that our live dealer will put down a Player Pair, Banker Pair, Perfect Pair, or Either Pair. Along with these alternative bets, you can go for Big and Small total bets:

• The Player Pair and Banker Pair side bets win provided the first two cards dealt to the Player or Banker are a pair
• The Either Pair bet wins if the initial two cards on either the Banker’s or the Player’s hand make a pair
• The Perfect Pair bet wins if the first two Player’s or Banker’s cards form a pair of the same suit
• A bet on ‘Big’ will win if the total of the cards dealt to the Player and Banker makes 5 or 6
• A bet on ‘Small’ pays out if the total between the Player’s and the Banker’s hands is 4

Grosvenor’s Live baccarat tables are available 24/7 so you can play at a time that suits you. Our friendly live dealers will answer any questions you have during gameplay and you can always come back to this page without losing your seat at the table.

Comments

comments