Best Bets in Baccarat

When Baccarat Becomes Confusing

Baccarat may look like a complicated game but for the most part it is pretty simple. There is a banker hand and a player hand, each is dealt two cards. The object of the game is to see which hand can get closest to 9 points. The scoring system is as follows: Ace=1 point, 2-9= face value, 10’s, Jacks, Queens, and Kings= 0 points. The one unique aspect about the scoring system is you do not bust or lose if you go over 9 points. What happens is the 1 in the tens column is simply dropped. In other words, if the banker hand was dealt a 6 and an 8 the total would not be 14, you drop the 1 and the score would be four.

The betting comes into play when gamblers decide if they think the player hand will win, the banker hand will win, or it will be a tie. They simply place their wager on the spot that is labeled what they want to bet. Everything is fairly straight forward so far, but things get a bit more complex from here on out.

If either hand is dealt an 8 or 9 it is known as a “natural” and that hand automatically wins. If the player hand has a total of 5 or less then the player hand has to hit. If the hand is over 5 it stands. If the player stands then the banker hand hits on a hand of 5 or less. If the player does hit, there is a chart below to determine the banker’s move.

The good news is as the person who is simply betting you don’t have to worry about all of these rules, the dealer does. All you have to do is decide which of the three bets you want to bet on. If you want to bet with the best odds bet on the banker it only has a little more than a 1% house advantage.