How to Play Baccarat - For Beginners:
If you’re looking to sit down at a Las Vegas casino table game with few complexities and a lot of James Bond-style gambling fun, baccarat is your go-to game. There are three possible outcomes—a player win, a banker win and a tie—and the dealer pretty much does all the work.
As host Jeff Civillico explains in the how-to video below, players bet either on the player’s side, the “banker” (aka the dealer) side or for a tie. Cards two through nine are face value, while a 10, jack, queen and king cards have a value of zero. An ace is worth one.
How To Play Baccarat
Jeff Civillico: Hi, I'm Jeff Civillico headliner at the Paris Hotel & Casino and today we're gonna talk a little bit about baccarat.
Now, you might be wondering what's baccarat all about? You might think it's complicated. You've probably seen James Bond even play in the movies. You might have no idea what was going on… that's because the dealer was speaking in French.
It's actually as simple as it gets!
How To Bet On Baccarat
First things first of course… we bet.
Now, you can bet on the player side or the banker side, so take your pick.
Unlike blackjack are many other table games, the dealer really does all of it, so at this point sit back relax and see what happens.
The basic goal here is to get as close to 9 as possible.
The cards 2 through 9 carry their same face value…
…10, Jack, Queen, King, have a 0 value…and Ace has a value of 1.
I'm gonna go with the player side, feeling good. Here are our two hands the player hand and the banker hand. Let's take a look…
How To Win Baccarat
…now the player hand shows a 7 and a Queen. If you remember the Queen holds a 0 value so that is gonna be a 7 for the player hand.
The banker hand 2 and 4, add those together, you've got 6 that means the player is gonna beat the banker 7 over 6.
So, anybody who has the player just doubled their money, baby! That's what I'm talking about!
Better luck next time ladies.
So, it's very easy to keep track of. You put in $200 - you win $200.
(Player hand pays even money)
(Banker Hand Pays 95% - Casino takes 5% commission)
Baccarat Score Card
And just to make sure you're staying on your game; we've got these handy score sheets here, so you can keep track as you go. Also, they are extremely effective for doodling and writing love notes to your dealer. Let's see if this helps…
Brush up on Casino Terms, Tips, & Tokes.
I'm feeling pretty good after that big win, so I'm gonna double my bet going back to the player sticking with what worked. I see some people are flipping to the bank and our third option here we're actually playing the tie. Let's see if that pans out.
Alright let's talk it through…
Baccarat Tie
Now, the players side has a 9 and 7 we add those together that's 16…something to note with baccarat; when the numbers add up to greater than 9 you actually drop the first number so that's 16, drop the 1, becomes a 6.
The banker side 8 and 8 as well, 16, drop the 1 to get a 6.
Congratulations! You have just won with a tie!
That win actually pays 8 to 1 with a tie folks, that's good stuff.
Baccarat Drawing Rules
Couple more things you need to know if you want to be a baccarat pro. I’ll let Dana take it through those right here right now… Dana!
Dana: So, player shows 7 and stands player always stays on 6, 7, 8 and 9… and Bank has 4, so when the player doesn't draw a card, the bank will always draw on 0 – 5.
Baccarat 101:
The dealer then deals out the cards face up—two each for the player and banker—and whichever hand totals closest to nine wins. If you’ve bet on the player hand and it has the closest to nine, the winnings are simply double what you bet.
If you’ve bet on the banker hand and it wins, it pays 95 percent of your wager.When the cards dealt are greater than nine, you have to add the two together and drop the one (or two) to get the value.
For example, a hand of nine and seven cards dealt would add up to 16, and with the first digit dropped, the value in the game is six.
Here are some more rules to help you ace a baccarat game:
- If either the player or banker is dealt a total of eight or nine, both the player and banker stand.
- If the player’s total is five or less, then the player will receive another card. Otherwise, the player will stand.
- If the player stands, then the banker hits on a total of 5 or less.
- The final betting option, a tie, pays out 8-to-1. Conveniently, there are also sheets at the table for you to keep track of your score.
