Baccarat is a game of chance and strategy, but the rules are easy to understand. Players bet on whether the player or banker will win a hand by placing their chips on a special gaming table. The dealer passes out two cards to each space at the table – one for the banker and another for the player. A third card is drawn for the winner if either of the first two hands totals 8 or 9. The game has become an icon, a symbol of luxury and class, seen in everything from sticky-floored California card rooms to tuxedo-laden casinos in Monaco. The game is also popular online and many sites offer baccarat for real money.
Unlike blackjack, which uses a standard deck of 52 cards, baccarat is played with nine-cards. Cards are worth their face value in this game, and a pair of kings, for example, is worth 6 points. Aces are worth 1 point, and the rest of the cards are zero points. A ten and a six are worth eight points, making the ten-card hand stronger than a seven-card hand. Baccarat is a game of pure chance, but you can make smart bets to increase your odds of winning.
Before the cards are dealt, each bettor places their bet in a marked box at the side of the table. A number is written beside each bettor’s space to indicate the player or banker bet. The dealer then deals two cards, revealing them in the Player and Banker boxes. If the bets match up with the boxes that hold the highest ranked cards, the customer wins that round of baccarat.
The banker’s hand typically wins around 45.8% of the time, and ties occur at around 9.6% of the time. The banker’s edge is lower than that of the player’s hand, which can make it an attractive option for those who want to minimize their losses.
Aside from the Player and Banker bets, there are several other types of bets that you can place on a baccarat hand. These include the Tie, Super Six, and Pair bets. These bets are all placed before the cards are dealt and pay out at different odds depending on the type of bet you place.
The player and banker bets both pay out a one-for-one payout if they win the hand. However, a Tie bet pays out at much higher odds – typically eight to one, but this varies depending on the casino and platform.