How to Play Baccarat: Baccarat Rules Explained

Baccarat is one of the most straightforward casino games around, needing minimal skill. It's the perfect game for bettors who love fast-paced card games without needing to learn a heap of complex rules. Probably only Roulette has rules as simple as Baccarat, which is a major reason why it remains so popular in South Africa.

In this guide, we'll cover the major aspects of each rule. We'll start with card evaluation, the game's objective, and the actions the player and banker can take. To wrap things up, we'll look at some key terms that will help even beginners start playing baccarat in South Africa without any worries.

What Exactly is Baccarat?

Baccarat, also referred to simply as Baccara, is a casino card game. The simple gameplay involves comparing cards between the player's hand and the banker's. Each Baccarat coup, which is the term for a round of the game, has three possible outcomes in South Africa:

• Player (Player’s hand is better),
• Banker (Banker’s hand is better),
• Tie.

How to Play Online Baccarat: The Rules

For this guide, we'll be focusing on the Punto Banco variation of Baccarat. This is the most common type of the game, usually called the standard baccarat variation in South Africa.

It's important to remember that Baccarat is a game of chance, so technically, your chances of winning are limited. However, there are still some key tricks that can give you an edge, like avoiding the tie bet option.

How a Baccarat Round Plays Out

The Baccarat gameplay rules are pretty simple. All you need to remember when playing it is:

• You always place a bet on what the possible outcome of the game could be. There are three bet options available:

  • Betting on a Player Win,
  • Betting on a Banker Win,
  • Betting on a Tie.
• The dealer shuffles the cards before dealing two to the player and two to themselves, always face down.
• If neither hand is a "natural" (an automatic win), bets can be placed after the cards are dealt.
• The main objective in Baccarat is to get a hand total of 9, which is the best possible combination.

Statistics show that the banker's hand wins about 45.8% of the time, while the player's hand wins about 44.6%, and the remaining 9.6% is for a Tie.

Understanding Card Values in Baccarat

As stated in Baccarat card game rules, cards have point values as follows:

• Ace - 1
• Numbered Cards 2 to 9 - Face Value
• 10, J, Q, K - 0

The hand values in Baccarat are based only on the last digit of the card's value. As an example, if a player is dealt with a 6 and 9, the sum is 15, so the hand value is 5, which is the last digit of the number.

Stands and Draws

Draws (Hit) and Stands are the only possible actions that can be taken in a Baccarat Game. Draw, which is more popular in the Baccarat world as Hit, is when the player wants to be dealt an additional card, making the total count of cards 3.

If the player chooses to stand, it’s an indication that no more cards are required, so the intention is to proceed with the current value of their hand.

The Baccarat card game rules for hitting and standing are different for the banker and the player’s hands.

Rules for Player’s Hand

How the game proceeds is determined by the player’s hand, as the Banker’s actions may vary depending on the player’s decision to stand or draw.

• If the player is dealt with a total of 6 or 7, he stands.
• If the player gets 5 or less, a third card is drawn.

Rules for Banker’s Hand

The rules for Banker’s Hand are more complex, as the action is strongly dependent on how the player played his hand.

If the player stands, the banker follows the same rules as for the player’s hand. But, if the player has drawn a third hard, the banker’s rules become quite harder.

• If the banker's total is 7, he stands all the time,
• If the banker's total is 6, he draws if the third card dealt to the player is a 6 or 7,
• If the banker's total is 5, he draws if the third card dealt to the player is a 4,5,6 or 7,
• If the banker's total is 4, he draws if the third card dealt to the player is a 2, 4, 5, 6, or 7.
• If the banker's total is 3, he draws in all cases, except if the player's third card is an 8,
• If the banker's total is 2, he draws all the time.

All these baccarat third card rules will be handled by the dealer, but it’s always good for the player to keep them in mind.

Benefits of Playing Online Baccarat

Baccarat was and will remain one of the most popular online casino games that players can enjoy playing. There are a lot of reasons for that, but let’s take a look at one of the most essential ones.

Advantages

• Rules of baccarat at top online casino sites can be easily learned,
• There are plenty of generous bonus offers related to playing online baccarat,
• The Baccarat online game can be played simply at any online casino,
• Many variations of the baccarat card game can be found in online casinos,
• Baccarat has one of the lowest house edges among table games,
• When playing the baccarat game online, the bettor controls his bankroll,
• Playing online bacarat is completely free.

Disadvantages

• On most online baccarat tables, commissions on winning bets are charged,
• The banker’s rules are quite a lot, so it’s hard to remember,
• Baccarat tables can be rigged if played in not licensed online casinos,
• Baccarat is a game of luck, so it’s hard to influence the outcome of hands,
• The potential payouts of the best bankers' and players' bets are not so great.

Conclusion

Baccarat is the table game with the easiest rules to learn, but also with the lowest house edge. So, it comes as no surprise that the game is that popular nowadays, and more players want to enjoy it. With all these baccarat rules explained, every player can start playing this simple game online immediately.

It’s always good to keep in mind that, no matter whether the rules of baccarat card games are simple, it’s still a chance game, so the chances of winning cannot be increased that much.