Baccarat FAQs

What is the objective of baccarat?
The objective of baccarat is to wager a bet on the hand of two or three cards that will result in the highest number of points, that is, 9.

From where does the baccarat game get its name?
Baccarat is derived from the Italian word ‘baccara’, meaning 0, and refers to the 0 value given to all of the face cards and tens.

How much skill does baccarat require?
Very little. The player only makes two decisions before each hand is dealt – first, whether to place a bet on the ‘player’ hand, ‘banker’ hand or whether the hands will tie and secondly, how much to wager. The player has no decisions to make during the game itself.

What happens in the event of a ‘tie’?
All bets placed on ‘player’ or ‘banker’ are returned to the player.

What are the values of each of the cards?
Card values in baccarat are different from other card games. Tens and face cards have a value of 0, while other cards have the value on their face. Only the last digit of the total of the hand is used so that all baccarat cards have values between 0 and 9.

What is a ‘natural’?
If either the ‘player’ hand or the ‘banker’ hand have a total of 8 or 9, then it is referred to as a ‘natural’ and no more cards are dealt. If it is not a natural, a third card may be drawn depending upon the value of each hand.

Is spotting a pattern an effective baccarat strategy?
Put simply – no! You are likely to see baccarat players around a table in a casino using a pencil and chart to keep track of previous hands and try to work out if there is a pattern. However, in baccarat no hand can influence the next. Baccarat is essentially a game of chance and there is very little a player can do to strategically improve the odds.

Should you always bet on the ‘banker’?
The house has an edge, and even though it is small, in the long run the house will win. To minimise the house edge, it is wise to always bet on the ‘banker’. However, it would be a very dull strategy to always bet on the ‘banker’ and you would miss out on the fun offered by a game of baccarat.