Baccarat Rules

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Baccarat Objectives

Baccarat is a thrilling game and is played at major casinos all over the world. In baccarat a player wagers on his/her prediction of who will win or if there will be a tie. A player can bet that his/her hand will win, that the banker’s hand will win, or that the game will be a tie.

The object of baccarat is to predict whether the banker or the player’s hand will be closer to a point value of 9. All 10-value cards count as 0 and aces count as 1. The hand with the highest point value wins.

No baccarat hand can go over 9 points. A “natural” cannot lose and is a 2-card total of 9. An 8 is the second best hand and is also called a natural. If the banker and the player are dealt identical hands, the result is a “stand-off” or tie and neither wins.

Players don’t receive any cards or play against others, but predict which hand will beat the other.

The player and banker each receive 2 cards. Following standard baccarat rules, a third card is dealt to the player and/or banker.

Baccarat Hand Values

No baccarat hand can go over 9 points. A “natural” cannot lose and is a 2-card total of 9. An 8 is the second best hand and is also called a natural. If the banker and the player are dealt identical hands, the result is a “stand-off” or tie and neither wins.

Baccarat Card Values

Aces are worth 1 point and face cards and 10’s are worth 0 points. All other cards are worth their face value. If the cards in a hand total more than 10, a player must subtract 10 points; the amount that remains is the baccarat point value of the hand. Example: 8+8=16. This is 6 in baccarat. A Jack+7=17.

Baccarat Third Card Rules

The following chart governs when a player and/or banker will automatically be dealt (i.e. “draws”) a third card in Baccarat. If the point value of the first 2 cards is an 8 or 9, it’s a natural. If the player/dealer is dealt a natural, the game ends and a third card is not dealt to anyone.

Player

Point Value of First Two Cards:	Action Required
0-1-2-3-4-5	Draws a third card
6-7	Stands
8-9	"Natural hand", no further draw

Banker

Point Value of First Two Cards:	Draws when the player´s third card is:	Does not draw when the player´s third card is:
0-1-2	Always draws a card	-
3	0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-9	8
4	2-3-4-5-6-7	0-1-8-9
5	4-5-6-7	0-1-2-3-8-9
6	6-7	0-1-2-3-4-5-8-9
7	Always stands	-
8-9	Player cannot draw	Player cannot draw