Baccarat Rules

Baccarat is a simple card game, similar in premise to Blackjack because the player can bet on which hand will win, either the player or the banker, or the more unlikely event of a tie. Winning bets on the banker or player are evens, meaning you will receive £2 back for every £1 bet you win. Tie bets are paid at 8:1 because they are much more unlikely than either the player or banker winning a round.

In a round of Baccarat each player is dealt two cards from a shoe of 6 to 8 decks. The object is for those cards to add to be as close to nine as possible. Numbered cards from 2 to 9 all count as their face value, the Ace counts as 1, and 10 and all of the face cards count as 0. If the total of 2 cards is over 10, then the 1 is dropped from the value of the sum. For instance, if you get a 5 and a 6, this comes to 11, but the 1 is dropped to make 1.

If a player’s cards total 6 or more from their initial 2 card draw, then they must stand without drawing another card. If the initial draw equals 5 or less, then the player must draw an extra card.

The banker draws a third card for certain only if his total is 0, 1 or 2. If his initial cards total 3, 4, 5, or 6 then whether the banker draws is determined by whether the player drew, and then the value of the player’s card, but this is worked out from the software provided.