How a hand plays
Two hands are dealt, called Player and Banker, though neither is you nor the house. You bet on which finishes closer to 9, or on a tie. Tens and face cards count zero, aces count one, and totals only keep the last digit: 7 + 8 = 15 = 5.
- Bet Player, Banker or Tie. This is your only decision in the entire game.
- Both sides get two cards. An 8 or 9 is a “natural” and ends the hand instantly.
- Third cards are automatic. A fixed drawing table called the “tableau” decides whether either side draws. Nobody chooses; the dealer just executes it. You never need to learn it.
- Closer to 9 wins. Player pays even money. Banker pays even money minus a 5% commission. Tie pays 8:1.
The third-card tableau slightly favours the Banker hand, because it draws second, with information. That is why Banker wins about 45.9% of hands to Player’s 44.6% (ties make up the rest), and why the commission exists. Even after paying it, Banker is the better bet: 1.06% against Player’s 1.24%.
The three bets, priced
Banker at 1.06% and Player at 1.24% are both excellent: cheaper than any roulette wheel and close behind basic-strategy blackjack, with zero skill required. The Tie at 8:1 costs 14.36%, ten times either main bet, and exists because 8:1 looks generous next to a 9.5% true chance. Pairs side bets, where offered, run around 10–11%. The honest strategy chapter of baccarat is one sentence: bet Banker, ignore everything else on the felt.
The no-commission catch
“No commission” baccarat keeps the full even-money payout on Banker wins, with one exception: a Banker win on a total of six pays half. That single carve-out raises the Banker edge from 1.06% to about 1.46%. It is a price increase dressed as a perk, and it works because nobody does the tableau math at the table. Standard commission tables are the better buy.
What players get wrong
The scorecards. Baccarat culture runs on roads: grids tracking Banker and Player streaks, with whole vocabularies for the patterns. They are theatre. Each coup is independent, the tableau does not care what the last shoe did, and a streak of eight Bankers predicts the ninth coup exactly as well as a coin does. Enjoy the ritual if it is fun; just know the casino prints the scorecards for the same reason roulette shows the results board.
Questions players ask
What is the best bet in baccarat?
Banker, every time it is available at standard commission: 1.06% house edge, the third-best widely available bet in the casino after perfect-play video poker and basic-strategy blackjack. Player at 1.24% is a fine second. The Tie at 14.36% and the pairs side bets around 10% are where the felt makes its real money.
Why does the Banker bet charge a 5% commission?
Because the fixed third-card rules give the Banker hand a genuine winning majority of about 45.9% of hands to Player’s 44.6%. Without the commission, Banker would be a player-favourable bet and the game would not exist. Even after the commission, it remains the cheaper side.
Do baccarat patterns and roads actually work?
No. Every coup is an independent draw from the shoe under fixed rules; the roads describe the past without constraining the future. No streak, pattern or “road” changes the next hand’s probabilities, which is why casinos happily hand out the scorecards.
Edges quoted are the standard published figures for the stated rules; where a paytable varies the range is given rather than a single invented decimal. The full game-by-game comparison lives on the house edge board.