Baccarat is an old school casino game. But you won’t need to wear a James Bond style tuxedo to play Baccarat these days. In fact, you can play Baccarat online in our online casino right now. And at Grosvenor Casinos, you can even play Live Baccarat on your desktop or mobile device – so you can experience the thrill of the casino from the comfort of your own home.
But how do you play Baccarat? Learn more with our Baccarat guide and Baccarat tips.
The History of Baccarat
The actual origins of Baccarat are slightly disputed. Many historians believe that it first started in Italy in the 1400s, created by Felix Falguiere. He called the game baccara (zero in Italian) as all the face cards and tens in the game were worth zero.
Other historians have it down as originating in the 19th century in France. Either way, it’s a super popular game that’s been around for hundreds of years. And it’s a game that you can still enjoy today right here at Grosvenor Casinos.
Objective of Baccarat
The objective of Baccarat is simple to get your head around. The dealer deals two cards to the player and two cards to the banker. They are face down.
The objective of the game is to bet on either the player’s hand or the dealer’s hand being closest to 9. You can also bet on the hand being a tie too. That’s it. We told you it was simple.
Basic Rules of Baccarat
Before each hand is dealt, the person placing the bet must decide whether they want to bet on the banker’s hand or the player’s hand. Or whether it will be a tie.
The dealer then puts down 2 cards for the player and 2 cards for the banker. These can be face up, or face down, depending on where you play. Once the cards are revealed, the hand that wins will be the one that was closest to 9.
If you bet on the player hand to win and it does, you double your original bet (your stake). If you bet on the banker’s hand and your bet comes in, you’ll get 95% of your original bet.
So, what happens if the value of the cards is over 9? If you draw an 8 and a 4 for example, this will obviously add up to 12 which is over 9. When the value is over 9, you simply subtract 10. So, the score in this example would be 2.
In some instances, either the player or the banker will draw a third card. There are slightly different rules for each, but it works like this:
Player
| Total for first two player cards | Action |
| 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10 | Draw a third card |
| 6, 7 | Stand |
| 8, 9 | Neutral – stand |
Stand is where no third card is drawn, but the other player can still have a third card drawn. If it’s neutral it means that both players stand and neither has a third card drawn.
Banker
| Total for first two bank cards | Draw on player’s third card | Stand on player’s third card |
| 3 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 | 8 |
| 4 | 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 | 1, 8, 9, 10 |
| 5 | 4, 5, 6, 7 | 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 |
| 6 | 6, 7 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 |
| 7 | Stand | |
| 8, 0 | Neutral – stand | |
| 0, 1, 2 | Always draw |
Whether or not the banker stands or draws another card depends on the total for their first two cards and the total for the player’s third card.
It’s quite complicated to get your head around, but the decision to draw third cards is always taken by the banker so it’s not 100% necessary to understand all the ins and the outs.
Baccarat Card Values
Whether or not you’re familiar with playing other card games like Blackjack, the first thing to note is that the value of the cards differ slightly in Baccarat. All tens and court cards (Jack, Queen, King) have a value of zero. The Ace is always one and number cards carry the value of the number on each card.
In summary, the card values are as follows:
- Cards from 2 – 9 award the corresponding number of points
- 10 and face cards (Jack, Queen, and King) award 0 points
- Aces award 1 point
Types of Baccarat tables
There are three popular variants of Baccarat; Punto Banco, Baccarat Chemin de Fer and Baccarat Banque.
Punto Banco is the most popular, with each player’s moves being forced by the cards the player is dealt. In the other two variants, both players can make choices.
At Grosvenor Casinos, you’ll find a range of Baccarat games to play and Baccarat tables to join in both our online Baccarat games and our Live Baccarat games.
Baccarat Terminology
When you play Baccarat online or in a real-life casino, there are a few terms you’ll need to understand. They include:
- Action: The total amount of money bet over a certain period of time. This can be either on a single round of Baccarat or across a whole session.
- Baccarat: It means “zero” in Italian and refers to a hand of zero value which is the worst hand you can get in the game.
- Banker bet: One of three bets you can make. It pays 1:1 but with 5% commission deducted.
- Carte: A request for another card from the dealer.
- Dealer: Also known as the “banco” or “croupier”, they are responsible for dealing the cards and running the game.
- Down card: A card that is face down. It’s also known as a “hole card”.
- Face cards: Jack, King or Queen, with a value of zero.
- House edge: The mathematical advantage the casino has over the player.
- La Grande: This is the best hand you can get in Baccarat – a natural 9. It’s also known as the Big One.
- La Petite: A natural Baccarat totalling 8. It’s also known as the Little One.
- Natural: When the first two cards dealt total either 8 or 9.
- Player bet: One of three bets you can make. It pays out 1:1.
- Punto Banco: The most popular form of Baccarat.
- Tie bet: One of three bets you can make. It pays 8:1 or 9:1.
- Upcard: A card that’s turned up.
Popular Baccarat Strategies
There are a few popular Baccarat strategies which may help your chances of winning. Just remember that Baccarat is a game of chance. It’s not necessarily like Poker where you can use your skills of the game to improve your opportunities to win.
But there are some strategies you can follow, including:
- One-sided betting strategy: You bet on one-side of the Baccarat table, either the player or the banker. You are effectively hedging your bets hoping that you ride it out and win more times than you lose.
- The Martingale strategy: With this strategy, you double your stake after every loss. If you bet £1 and you win, you should continue with your £1 bet. If you lose, double your next bet to £2 and so on. With a Martingale strategy always bet on the player, as a bet on the player will pay out pound for pound (whereas the banker always has a commission).
- The 1-3-2-4 system: With this betting system, you start off with a particular value of bet, say £6. For your opening bet, it’s a single value which would be £6 in this case. If it’s successful, you take the next number in the sequence which will be 3x the value (so £18 in this case). If you continue winning across four bets, you’ll be up by 10 units.
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