Blackjack and Poker have no secrets for you, and you would like to try out a new online casino game you have not already played? What if you tried Baccarat? By reading this guide, you will know everything there is to know about Baccarat rules and playing strategy.
As Evolution Gaming is the best provider when it comes to Live Casino, this guide will be based around their Live Baccarat tables.
The origins of Baccarat
Although Baccarat is the most popular card game in South East Asia, did you know it was invented in France ? Since the 19th century, it was a really popular card games among the French nobility. As casino gambling was only legalized in 1907 in France, gamblers played it in private lounges.
The game evolved as years went by, and it’s around the 1940s that Baccarat became a house-banked casino game like we know today. The game is heavily played in South East Asia, especially in Macau, also known as the Asian Las Vegas. It is also becoming more and more popular in the United States of America.
Baccarat rules: how to play?
Baccarat is hosted by a dealer and is played with eight regular decks of 52 cards. You goal is to bet on which hand will be the closest to 9, between your and the dealers’. You can also bet on a tie.
The cards value are the following:
- Aces have the lowest value, they are worth 1 point.
- Cards from 2 to 9 are worth their numerical value.
- 10s and face cards (jacks, queens, kings) are worth 0.
- Only card value matters, suits are not taken into consideration.
Before the cards are dealt, you have to bet on either the dealers’ hand , yours, or on a tie. While betting on yourself or the dealer has a payout value of 1 time your bet, the tie pays 8 times your bet.
On Evolution Gaming’s Baccarat tables, all players are betting on the same hand, exactly like on Infinite Blackjack or Free Bet Blackjack tables.
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Like in those other games, the provider has added sidebets on which you can also bet if you want to try your luck. The sidebets are “Player pair” and “Dealer pair”, and both pay 11 times the value you put onto it.
How a Baccarat game round unfolds
After bets are closed, two cards are dealt to the player and to the dealer.
If both hands have the same value, the game ends in a tie. In case of a tie, bets are pushed, except for the Tie bet which pays 8 times your bet. You only lose your sidebet (if you put any).
To calculate your hand value, just add up your cards value and remove the tenths digit. For example, if you have a 7 and a 8, your hand value is 5 (15 – 10 = 5). As face cards are worth zero, it’s even easier to count hand value when you get one.
If one of the initial hand has a value of 8 or 9 (« natural » 8 or 9), this hand wins the round and no other card is dealt.
On the other hand, if both or any of the hands has a value between 0 to 7, the « rule of the third card » is applied. A third card is then dealt to either the player, the dealer or both to determine the winner.
When does the player and / or dealer stand or hit?
In Baccarat, you have nothing to do except to place your bet. The round then unfolds on its own, until someone wins or the game is tied. We made a table for you to better understand when and why the dealer is distributing cards.
To make it simple, just remember that you get another card when your initial hand value is between 0 to 5. You’ll automatically stand on 6 or 7, and win if you get a natural 8 or 9 hand value.
For the dealer’s hand, it is a bit more complicated, and the table below will help you understand the game better.
Evolution Gaming’s Baccarat game modes
As the great Live casino games provider it is, Evolution Gaming imagined new creative and immersive ways of playing Baccarat online. Along with the classic Baccarat tables, they created 6 variations around this classic card game.
No Commission Baccarat
In baccarat, when you win against the dealer’s hand a commission of 5% is taken from your bet. You thus win 0.95 times your initial bet. On the “No commission baccarat” tables, this commission does not exist. Where’s the catch? If the dealer wins on 8 points, the payout is 1:2 (0,5 times your bet).
Speed Baccarat
Speed baccarat is played like classic Baccarat, but way faster. It’s a great table for expert players who are looking to play fast.
No Commission Speed Baccarat
This table is played exactly like the Speed baccarat, but with the “no commission” rules applied to it.
Lightning Baccarat
On Lightning baccarat tables, there is a random 1-5 Lightning Cards drawn from a virtual deck in addition with randomly generated payout multipliers. If the player wins on a hand or gets one or more matching Lightning Cards, his winnings get multiplied accordingly (from 2x to 8x).
If the player gets more than one matching Lightning card, his winnings can be multiplied up to 512x (8x8x8). The best possible outcome being winning on a Tie bet with six Lightning Cards, ending in a win multiplier of 262,144x. Winnings are capped at €500,000 on this table.
Baccarat Squeeze
Evolution Gaming also created the Baccarat squeeze table. This table is dedicated to the players who love the thrill and suspense of hands revelation. On this table, a camera zooms up on the dealer’s hands as he slowly reveals the cards to the players. Try it, you will absolutely love it!
Baccarat Control Squeeze
You want to be in control when playing Baccarat? This last table should suit you! On this table you can choose to reveal the face down cards one by one, at any time. You can also choose to wait and let the dealer reveal the cards.
Baccarat strategy: does such a thing exist?
As stated in the previous chapters, you don’t have any decisions to take when playing Baccarat after placing your initial bet. Never forget that unlike Blackjack, Baccarat is a game of chance only.
The only two strategies you can try to adopt are the following:
- The bank has the best house edge. Betting on the Dealer is the best option you have. If the banker goes on a winning streak, keep betting on him until he loses. Then wait for one round, and on the next round bet on whoever won, expecting for a new streak.
- The other “strategy” you can try is playing on bet variations and balance management.
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