How to Play Baccarat (Punto Banco)

Baccarat is the simplest card game in the casino: you bet on which of two hands — Player or Banker — will land closest to a total of 9. You don't play a hand yourself; you bet on one. Here are the full rules, including the one part everyone finds confusing: when a third card is drawn.

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The goal

Two hands are dealt — the Player hand and the Banker hand. Each gets two cards to start. Whichever hand totals closest to 9 wins. You bet, before the deal, on Player, Banker, or a Tie.

Card values

Only the ones digit of the total matters (everything is counted modulo 10):

Ace = 1
2 through 9 = face value
10, Jack, Queen, King = 0 (a "monkey")

So a 7 and an 8 total 15, which counts as 5. A King and a 9 total 9 — the best possible two-card hand.

Naturals

If either hand totals 8 or 9 on its first two cards, that's a natural: the coup ends immediately and no third cards are drawn. A natural 9 beats a natural 8.

The Player third-card rule

If neither hand has a natural, the Player hand acts first, by a fixed rule (no choice involved):

Player total 0–5: draw a third card.
Player total 6–7: stand.

The Banker third-card rule (the tableau)

The Banker's decision is the famously fiddly part. It depends on the Banker's two-card total and the value of the card the Player drew (or whether the Player stood). This is the complete tableau — the exact rule this simulator's engine uses:

Banker total ↓ / Player 3rd →	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Player stood
0	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw
1	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw
2	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw
3	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Stand	Draw	Draw
4	Stand	Stand	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Stand	Stand	Draw
5	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Stand	Stand	Draw
6	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Draw	Draw	Stand	Stand	Stand
7	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand

Read a row by the Banker's two-card total, then the column for the Player's third card. Example: the Banker has 6 and the Player's third card was a 4 → the Banker stands (it only draws on a 6 when the Player's third card is a 6 or 7).

Payouts and the commission

Player win pays 1 : 1 (even money).
Banker win pays 1 : 1 minus a 5% commission — because the Banker hand wins slightly more often, the house takes a cut to balance it.
Tie pays 8 : 1; Player and Banker bets push (are returned) on a tie.

The Banker bet has the lowest house edge (~1.06%), the Player bet is close (~1.24%), and the Tie is a sucker bet (~14%). "Bet Banker, avoid the Tie" is the whole of basic baccarat strategy.

▶ Try a hand — squeeze the cards yourself

Learn the table talk in the baccarat glossary, or decode the scoreboard patterns in the guide to the baccarat roads.