How to Play Baccarat: One Hand From Bet to Payout

To play baccarat, you bet on Player, Banker or Tie; the dealer deals and every third card is drawn strictly by the rules, so you make no decisions about the cards. The side whose total ends closer to 9 wins, a natural (8 or 9 on the first two cards) stops all drawing, otherwise Player draws on 0–5 and Banker follows a table. With eight decks the house edge is 1.06% on Banker, 1.24% on Player and 14.36% on Tie.

This guide covers punto banco; in chemin de fer, the people playing decide whether to draw a third card.

The main assumption behind the 1.06% Banker house edge is the 5% commission: reducing it to 4% lowers the house edge to 0.60%; with no commission, the Banker bet would favour you. Unless stated otherwise, the calculations below use eight decks, 5% commission and a Tie payout of 8 to 1.

How a baccarat hand works

You place your bet before the deal, then the dealer deals two cards to each side, follows the mandatory drawing rules and compares the totals. Player and Banker name the two sides, not you and the casino.

1. Bet on Player, Banker or Tie.
2. The dealer deals two cards each to Player and Banker, usually from an eight-deck shoe.
3. The dealer checks for a natural: if either side has 8 or 9, neither side draws.
4. Without a natural, the Player drawing rule applies first, followed by the Banker drawing rule.
5. The higher final total wins; equal totals produce a Tie.

For a short definition and terminology, see baccarat in the glossary; this guide walks through the whole hand with the maths.

Diagram of one baccarat hand: bet, two cards, natural check, Player and Banker draws, comparing totalsTeaching diagram of one hand (8 decks), not a casino screen: every draw is fixed by the rules.

How to count card totals

Add the card values and keep only the last digit. For example, 9 + 7 = 16, so the total is 6.

The total closer to 9 wins: 8 beats 6, for example. A sum above 9 does not mean you lose; only its last digit counts.

When both sides stop and when Player draws

A natural on either side stops all drawing; without a natural, Player draws a third card on 0–5 and stands on 6–7. A natural means 8 or 9 on the first two cards, not a total reached after drawing.

In the eight-deck calculation, at least one side has a natural in 34.30% of all hands. The natural check comes first by rule.

When Banker draws a third card

If Player stands, Banker draws on 0–5 and stands on 6–7; if Player draws, Banker follows the table below. These rules apply only after the natural check—you do not choose whether either side draws or stands.

The table uses the third card’s value: 10, J, Q and K count as 0. For example, Banker with 3 stands when Player’s third card is 8, but draws when its value is 0.

The eight-deck drawing frequencies below use all hands, including naturals, as their denominator.

A separate figure uses a narrower denominator: among hands without a natural where Player stands on 6–7, Banker draws in 76.67% of cases. That percentage is not directly comparable with a drawing frequency measured across all hands.

The three bets: payouts and expected loss

Under the baseline assumptions, Banker has the lowest house edge at 1.06%. This table uses eight decks, commission of exactly 5% on Banker winnings without rounding, and a Tie payout of 8 to 1. Net payout excludes the returned stake.

Use the house edge calculator to estimate the expected loss on your turnover. Expected loss is a calculated average relative to the amount wagered, not the result of each bet.

A winning Banker bet of 100 earns 95 in net profit after commission, and the original stake is also returned. The reduced payout offsets Banker’s drawing advantage: its rule takes account of whether Player drew and the value of that third card.

On a Tie, Player and Banker bets push, meaning their stakes are returned, while the Tie bet wins. The probabilities above include all hands; measured per non-tie hand, the house edge is 1.17% for Banker and 1.36% for Player.

The break-even commission at which the Banker bet has zero expected value is 2.69%; below it, the bet has a positive expectation for you if the other assumptions stay unchanged.

The eight-deck counts match the Wizard of Odds combination table: 4,998,398,275,503,360 ordered six-card sequences in total, comprising 2,292,252,566,437,888 Banker wins, 2,230,518,282,592,256 Player wins and 475,627,426,473,216 Ties.

Four worked hands and bet results

For each hand, check for a natural, apply the Player and Banker drawing rules, then settle the bets. Below, a plus sign means net profit; Banker commission is exactly 5%, with no rounding required.

1. Natural: 9 against 8

Banker wins immediately, with no third cards.

• Player: 4 + 4 = 8.
• Banker: 9 + K = 9.
• Both sides have a natural, so neither draws.
• A Banker bet of 100 returns +95 in profit; a Player bet of 100 loses 100.

2. Both sides draw a third card

Banker wins 8 against 7 after both mandatory draws.

• Player: K + 5 = 5, then draws 2 for a total of 7.
• Banker: ace + 2 = 3.
• With a total of 3 and Player’s third card valued at 2, Banker must draw.
• Banker draws 5 for a final total of 8.
• A Banker bet of 100 earns +95; a Player bet of 100 loses 100.

3. Player stands and Banker draws to a Tie

The final totals are 6 against 6, so Player and Banker bets push.

• Player: 4 + 2 = 6, then stands.
• Banker: 2 + 3 = 5.
• Because Player stood, Banker must draw on 5.
• Banker draws an ace for a final total of 6.
• Player and Banker stakes are returned; a Tie bet of 100 earns +800.

4. Player’s third card of 8 stops Banker on 3

Banker wins 3 against 2 without drawing a third card.

• Player: 2 + 2 = 4, then draws 8.
• The sum of 12 gives Player a final total of 2.
• Banker: ace + 2 = 3.
• Player’s third card is 8, so Banker stands on 3.
• A Banker bet of 100 earns +95; a Player bet of 100 loses 100.

What changes between tables

Commission changes the baseline Banker house edge more than switching from eight decks to six. Each row below changes only the stated condition relative to the baseline; the other assumptions remain unchanged.

A negative house edge means a positive expectation for you. The row where all Banker wins pay 1 to 1 without commission is a sensitivity calculation, not a universal offer at no-commission tables.

In the variant where Banker wins with 6 pay half, those wins pay 50% of the stake; other Banker wins pay 1 to 1. A Banker win with 6 occurs in 5.39% of all hands, and this rule produces a house edge of 1.46%. That figure does not apply to other no-commission variants such as EZ Baccarat, which use different rules.

Mini-baccarat retains the drawing rules, but the dealer turns over all cards, making play faster. The format name does not replace checking the deck count, commission and payouts. Also, a Tie payout of 8 to 1 is not the same wording as “9 for 1”: the latter includes the returned stake and does not mean 9 to 1.

The “Banker 6 pays half” variant and the “9 for 1” wording come from The Venetian Resort Las Vegas, “How to Play Baccarat” (viewed 17 October 2026, domain venetianlasvegas.com); the deck and commission rows are our calculation and match the Wizard of Odds tables for 6 and 1 decks and for 5%, 4% and 3% commission.

Under these assumptions—eight decks, 5% commission and Tie paying 8 to 1—Banker has the lowest expected cost, followed by Player; Tie is substantially more expensive. If commission falls below 2.69% with everything else unchanged, the conclusion that Banker has a negative expectation reverses.

Score cards and roads, streaks and betting systems

Score cards and roads record past results; they do not provide a rule for choosing the next bet. The 1000 baccarat shoes analysis examines real streaks, while the baccarat simulator lets you test a betting system on a real engine. Changing stake sizes alone does not remove the house edge.

5 Treasures side bets and the Banker Streak side bet are covered in separate guides.