Live Baccarat | What is it and How to Play Baccarat
Live baccarat is a simple live casino card game that both beginners and high rollers can play to win consistently. This game is relatively simple, extremely simpler than blackjack and poker, but a bit complex enough for players to still get confused when certain things happen at the table.
While players can simply place a bet and let the dealer handle everything else, the game has a fairly complicated ruleset that dealers master and influence how certain bets win and lose.
Live Baccarat Bets and Payouts
Different live baccarat games can have different rulesets and bets available, depending on the gaming provider and the rules of the specific game variation. The most common baccarat bets available are the following:
| Bet | Description | Payout |
| Player | Pays out when the Player hand wins | 1:1 |
| Banker | Pays out when the Banker hand wins | 0.95:1 or 1:1 |
| Tie | Pays out when a tie occurs | 8:1 |
All baccarat tables will have the three bets listed above and their payouts usually fall around that. The reason the Banker bet has different payouts is because 0.95:1 is the standard payout as the bet charges a 5% commission per win while the even money payout is found in No Commission tables.
Certain baccarat tables will also feature side bets that typically pay out more but have harder-to-fulfill winning conditions. These side bets are the following:
| Player or Banker Pair | Pays out when the first two cards dealt to the player or banker, respectively, is a pair | 11:1 |
| Either Pair | Pays out when the first two cards dealt to either the player or banker is a pair | 5:1 |
| Perfect Pair | Pays out when either two identical cards are dealt to the Player or Banker or when two identical cards are dealt to both Player and Banker as their first two cards | 25:1 or 200:1 |
| Player or Banker Bonus | Pays out when the Player or Banker, respectively, wins the round on a natural 8 or 9 or by at least four points. | Natural 1:1Natural Tie PushWin by 9 30:1Win by 8 10:1Win by 7 6:1Win by 6 4:1Win by 5 2:1Win by 4 1:1 |
| Super 6 | Bet on the Banker winning with a total value of 6 | 12:1 |
The Super 6 side bet only appears in No Commission tables and Ezugi’s Super 6 baccarat game. The main purpose of the Super 6 side bet is to offset the 50% commission charged by winning Banker bets in No Commission when they win with a 6.
Live Baccarat General Rules
Live baccarat is a card game where the main objective is to guess whether the Player’s Hand or the Dealer’s Hand has the highest hand value or is closest to 9. In this game, the player only needs to place a bet and let the dealer handle everything.
The general rules of baccarat are pretty simple and will revolve mostly on how the cards are read. Each card is assigned a two-digit value and the goal of the game is to get a hand that’s closest to 9 or with the highest card value. In the two-digit number, only the second digit is read so a card valued at 10 is read as “0.”
The different card values are the following
Each hand is dealt an initial two cards each and there are certain outcomes that result in the Player and Banker hands getting dealt a third card.
Third Card Drawing Rules
Player Hand Third Card Drawing Rules
The Player’s hand is dealt a third card when the hand’s initial total value is within the 0 to 5 range. If the starting hand has a total of either 6 or 7, the Player’s hand stands and no third card is drawn for both hands.
Banker Third Card Drawing Rules
The Banker’s hand is dealt a third card after the Player’s hand is dealt a third card and the Banker’s hand’s card value meets certain requirements in relation to the Player’s third card. The Banker third card drawing rules are more complicated that the Player’s third card drawing rules. Because of this, we’ve prepared a Banker third card rule chart to help players understand it better.
| Player’s Third Card | Banker Draws When Their Hand Total Value is | Banker Stands When Their Hand Total Value is |
| 2 or 3 | 0-4 | 5-7 |
| 4 or 5 | 0-5 | 6-7 |
| 6 or 7 | 0-6 | 7 |
| 8 | 0-2 | 3-7 |
| Ace, 9, or 10-value card | 0-3 | 4-7 |
Based on the chart, the Banker only gets dealt a card when it’s advantageous for them, which contributes to the Banker bet’s low house edge.
Baccarat Payouts and House Edge
The main baccarat bets have the following payouts:
The main reason why the Banker bet has a low house edge is because of its advantageous third card drawing rules. The banker always has the advantage because it only draws a third card to get an edge against the Player’s hand. If the banker already has a good hand, there’s no need to draw a third card.
The tie bet has the highest house edge since the likelihood of it winning is so low that using the one-sided strategy on this bet is essentially a waste of money.
Games Similar to Baccarat
There are some live casino games that play similarly to baccarat, with some minor differences. These games are Dragon Tiger, which is a card game, and Bac Bo, which is a dice game.
Dragon Tiger
Dragon Tiger is often referred to as two-card baccarat due to how similar the two game’s gameplay are. Both games’ objective is to bet on the hand with the highest card value with some differences. Dragon Tiger is called two-card baccarat because that’s the total number of cards drawn per round. Each sine only consists of one card.
The two sides are the Dragon and Tiger and both of them pay even money. The reason is that there are no rules for a second or third card to be drawn for one side because card values are read differently. Dragon Tiger cards are read as follows:
The side with the highest card value wins.
Bac Bo
Bac Bo is a dice game where the Player and Banker have two D6 dice each. The dice are rolled by the machine by bouncing them around and stopping. The upright face of both dice are added up to produce a total for one side. The values are read as is with the minimum value being a “2” and the maximum value being “12.”
Bet on Teen Patti/Teen Patti 20-20
20-20 is a Teen Patti variation which is better classified as a baccarat variation with Teen Patti elements. This game plays the same as baccarat and the only indication that this is a Teen Patti game is that the winning hand is the one with the highest-ranking Teen Patti hand.
Players can even bet on the Player A or Player B Pair Plus and the 3 + 3 Bonus side bets which pay out depending on what Teen Patti hand is formed by the three card combination.
FAQs
Conclusion
Live baccarat games are easy-to-play card games that both beginners and high rollers can enjoy thanks to their simplistic rules. Players will only need to place bets and let the dealers handle the rest and even sticking to the Banker bet is a winning strategy due to the low house edge.
Try out playing 22Win’s collection of baccarat games from providers like Evolution Gaming and Dream Gaming and start winning big. Evolution even has a Lightning game that features multipliers that can potentially increase a winning hand’s payout.
