Learn for Free How to Play Baccarat

How to play baccarat? Having followed us all along, you must be nagged by this obvious question. We are here, to take you down that road as well. When you decide to play baccarat whether online baccarat or the general one in physical casino, the following instructions will come in handy.

How to play baccarat

Baccarat is one of the simplest casino games. It is easy to play and easier to learn. The game starts with two parties, a player and the banker. A player has just three decisions to make: place bet on the banker, place bet on other players or place a bet on tie. Once the bet is placed, players don’t need to worry about rules. Baccarat rules are automatic and the dealer keeps the game going according to the rule and without consulting players.

To play baccarat, a six-deck or an eight-deck shoe is used. In baccarat or online baccarat, the dealer may or may not deal you another card, and his decision depends solely upon the total of your cards. There are certain card drawing rules that the dealer follows, and so the player has no say in it; similarly the banker’s decision is also preset, based on the player’s total.

Baccarat Table Layout

To play baccarat, you should have very good knowledge about the layout of the table. The layout is quite simple. The table consists of player seating positions (outer-most rows) that are marked by numbers, from 1 to 15. That means, maximum 14 players can play on one table (number 13 is eliminated due to superstitious beliefs about 13).

Baccarat table_layout.gif

Baccarat table area

Dealer
Discard Trays
Dealer
Drop Box
Caller
Tips Box

The table also has three betting rows. Some knowledge of these betting rows is critical in learning how to play baccarat. The following table will give you some ideas about it.

Betting row description	Position	Purpose
Row with players written	First row, right after the numbers of the payers’ seating positions’	Bets on the player’s hand are placed here.
Row with banker written	Middle row, the one after player’s row	Bets on the banker’s hands are placed here.
Row marked with the player’s seat number	Closest to the center, after the banker’s row	Chips for the tie bet are placed here.
Vertical boxes with 1-15 written	Towards the dealer size, centered in the middle, at the bottom	In these boxes, commission fees on bank hands are kept

Basic rules of baccarat

This is how the game begins.

The game starts with dealing a card to the player. If the total of player’s hand is 0-5, he gets another card.
If the total exceeds 5, the game moves to the banker

If the sum total of the banker’s hand is 7, 8 or 9, the banker will not get another card.

The banker will draw one card if the sum total of his first two cards is 0, 1, or 2.

Card value

The aces are worth one, 10s and the picture cards are worth zero, and the rest of the cards in baccarat are worth their face value.

Card with value One

Cards with value zero

Cards worth their face value

Hand value

Hand value is slightly tricky to follow, but once you know about it, it becomes simple. To learn how to play baccarat, you need to understand that if the sum total of your hand exceeds 9, the digit at the place of ten place is removed and only the value at the place of one place is counted.

For example, suppose you have an 8 and a 7. The sum total of 8 and 7 is 15 (8+7 = 15). As the sum total of your hand value has exceeded 9, according to the rule, the value of your hand remains 5.

First Card

Second Card

Total Value

6 + 7 = 13. So the hand’s value is 3.

King + 3= 3. As the value of King is 0.

First Card

Second Card

Third Card

Total Value

King + 6 + 7 = 13. So the hand’s value is 3.

9 + 4 + Ace = 14. So the hand’s value is 4.

At the beginning the banker and the player are dealt two cards each. Depending on the value of the hands, each might be dealt a third card in either case according to the baccarat drawing rules.

How to win baccarat

To win the game of baccarat, try to take the total value of your cards as close to 9 as you can. Suppose an 8 or a 9 is dealt to you. It is a natural and you win the hand, provided the dealer’s hand is not a natural.

The player wins, if the hand betted on has a higher total on the table.

In the condition where, the totals of the dealer’s and the player’s cards are equal, and the player has wagered on a tie.

Our next article will show you the step-by-step process of how to play baccarat. The article will be equally valuable for both kinds of baccarat games, online and physical.

Baccarat payout
When you try to learn how to play baccarat, you must also know about baccarat payouts. Refer to the table below to understand baccarat payouts