How to Play Online Baccarat Guide

If you've ever wondering why online baccarat is so popular at online casinos and you want to get in on the action, you've come to the right place. Our baccarat guide will tell you everything you need to know about this card game so you can play and win real money online. We cover the objective of the game, explain the hand rankings and payouts, and so much more.

A Guide to Baccarat

You don't have to do anything else but watch how the game unfolds. Before you start playing for real money though, you need to understand how to play the game and why you've either won or lost your bets.

Baccarat can be found under the table games section of online casinos. It's a card game that is played with several decks that are kept in what is known as a shoe. The cards are dealt out to the player and the dealer. The aim of the game is to beat the dealer and the other players at the table if you are playing live dealer baccarat. You place your bet on the player, dealer, or whether the game will end in a tie.

Once you've made your bet, the dealer will deal two cards to each player and the winner is the person whose hand is close to 9. In some games, you may also get a third card, but never more than this.

The game can be played by up to fourteen players at a time and the bets are marked on the table from player 1-15. There is no number 13. The baccarat table has three boxes in front of each player where they place their bets. Each box represents the different bets that can be placed. The cards are dealt and baccarat can use six, eight, or nine desks of cards.

The Objective in Baccarat

The objective in baccarat is create a hand that has a points total closest to 9 without going over it. There are very few decisions for payers to make throughout the game as the rules are pre-determined. All players have to do is choose whether they want to bet on the player, the banker, or a tie. Once bets have been placed there are no other decisions to be made. It's a game of chance and the outcome depends on the cards you have been dealt and the bet you've made. You can play for free in practice mode at some online casinos and on the mobile games from zodiac casino.

Hand Rankings Explained

When playing online baccarat, the value of the cards you are dealt are added together to get a sum total between zero and nine. Nine is the best possible score and zero is the worst outcome. When playing online, your hand total is automatically calculated. Card values are as follows:

Ace is counted as 1
King, Queen, Jack and 10 are all worth 10
Cards 2 - 9 are counted as their face value

When cards are added together it is very easy to exceed 10. For example, if you have a Queen and a five. That would give you a total of 15. Whenever this happens, ten is subtracted from the total hand value and in the example above your new total would be five. The way to remember this is to remove the first digit and the second digit is your score. A total of 12 will give you 2, 13 will give you 3, and so on.

Hands that are worth 8 or 9 points are called naturals. The closer you get to nine the better and if your opponent has a lower point value you win.

There are certain circumstances in online baccarat where a third card is dealt. If the total of your cards is five or less, another card is dealt. The banker has rules that he must follow too. If the banker's cards total two he must draw another card no matter what the player's third card is. If the banker's total is 3 he must draw a third card unless the player's third card is an 8. If the banker has a 4 a third card is dealt unless the player's third card is 0, 1, 8, or 9. If the banker has 5 he will draw a third card if the player's third card is 4, 5, 6, or 7. If the banker has 6, he draws a third card if the player's third card is 6 or 7. If the banker's total hand is 7 he will stand.

When playing at an online casino, the rules are clearly visible on your screen so you won't have to worry too much about remembering them. All previous results are also shown on your screen and these can help you to decide how to play your next hand. Find out more about hand rankings here.

Baccarat Payouts

When playing real money baccarat, you have three options. You can bet on the player, the banker, or a tie. There are different payouts for each of these betting options. Betting on the player and winning will get you a payout of 1/1. If you placed a bet of $10 you would win $20. That is your $10 winnings plus your $10 bet.

If you bet on the banker and win you also receive a payout of 1/1, but you have to pay 5% commission back to the casino which is collected at the end of the game. The commission is paid because the banker always has an edge over the player.

There is also a tie bet. This gives you the biggest payout at 8/1 but it isn't the one that is recommended as it has the least likely chance of being a winning bet.

Side Bets You Can Place in Online Baccarat

There are some side bets that you can place when playing online baccarat too. They help to add a little more excitement to the game.

Player Pair/Banker Pair: bets win if the first two cards dealt to the player and the banker form a pair. For example, the player is dealt a King and the dealer is also dealt a King for his first card.
Either Pair: wins if the first two cards dealt to either the player or the banker hand makes a pair. This bet also wins if both the banker and the player are dealt a pair.
Perfect Pair: wins if the first two cards dealt to the player or the banker forms a pair of the same suit.
Big Bet/Small Bet: Big side bet wins if the total of the cards dealt to the player and banker make 5 or 6. The Small side bet wins if the total between the player and banker is 4.