Baccarat Glossary — Terms, Slang & Side Bets
The dealer's patter and the bet menu are full of jargon. Here's what the words mean, from "monkey" to "Dragon 7."
▶ Play free and hear the dealer call them- Natural
- A two-card total of 8 or 9. It wins immediately — no third card is drawn by either hand.
- Punto Banco
- The most common form of baccarat, where the drawing rules are fixed and no one makes playing decisions. "Punto" is the Player, "Banco" the Banker.
- Monkey
- A card worth zero — any 10, Jack, Queen, or King. "Monkey for the Player, counts for nothing."
- Snowman
- Table slang for an 8, from its shape.
- Le Grand
- "The big one" — a natural 9, the best hand in baccarat. A natural 8 is "le petit."
- Squeeze
- The ritual of slowly bending up the corner of a face-down card to reveal it a sliver at a time, drawing out the suspense before the value is known. This simulator lets you do it with your mouse or finger.
- Commission
- The 5% the house takes from a winning Banker bet. The Banker wins slightly more often than the Player, and the commission is what makes the bet fair for the casino.
- Tie
- A bet that the Player and Banker hands finish on the same total. It pays 8:1 but carries a ~14% house edge — the worst bet on the table.
- Player Pair
- A side bet that the Player's first two cards are the same rank. Pays 11:1.
- Banker Pair
- A side bet that the Banker's first two cards are the same rank. Pays 11:1.
- Dragon 7
- In EZ Baccarat, a Banker win with a three-card total of 7. The Banker main bet pushes, and the Dragon 7 side bet pays 40:1.
- Panda 8
- In EZ Baccarat, a Player win with a three-card total of 8. The Panda 8 side bet pays 25:1.
- Dragon Bonus
- A side bet that your hand wins by a large margin, or with a natural. The bigger the winning margin, the bigger the payout — up to 30:1 for a non-natural win by 9.
- Shoe
- The box that holds and dispenses the cards. Baccarat is dealt from an 8-deck shoe (416 cards), reshuffled when a cut card near the back is reached.
- Cut Card
- A colored card placed near the back of the shoe. When it appears in play, the current shoe is finishing and a shuffle is coming.
New to the game? Start with how to play baccarat, or learn to read the board in the scoreboard roads guide.