How do you play baccarat?

You bet on Player, Banker, or a Tie before the cards are dealt. Two cards go to the Player hand and two to the Banker hand. Tens and face cards count as zero, aces count as one, and everything else counts at pip value. If the total is more than nine you drop the first digit, so a nine and a seven make sixteen, which counts as six. Whichever hand is closer to nine wins. A third card is dealt to one or both hands under a fixed rule, never by choice.

What is the baccarat third-card rule?

If either hand has a total of 8 or 9 on the first two cards, that is a natural and both hands stand. Otherwise the Player hand draws a third card on a total of 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7. The Banker hand's third-card decision depends on its own total and, if the Player drew, the value of the Player's third card. The dealer applies the rule automatically; you never choose.

Why is there a commission on the Banker bet?

The Banker hand acts after the Player hand and gets to react to the Player's third card, which gives it a small edge in how often it wins. Casinos charge a 5% commission on winning Banker bets to offset that edge, so a winning Banker bet pays 19 to 20 instead of even money.

Is Banker or Player the better bet?

Banker, even after the 5% commission. In an eight-deck shoe the Banker bet carries a house edge of about 1.06%, the Player bet about 1.24%, and the Tie bet about 14.36%. Player Pair and Banker Pair side bets run around 10.36%. Banker is the lowest house edge bet on the table.

Is the baccarat trainer free?

Yes. It runs in your browser with play money, needs no signup, and is free to use. It is a practice and learning tool only.

Free Baccarat Trainer | Learn Punto Banco with a Guided Walkthrough

Place your bets Pick a chip, tap Player, Banker, Tie, or a Pair, then deal.

Banker

Player

Chip value

$1,000

Bankroll

Net

Hands

Best streak

Guided walkthrough G Auto-deal next hand

Bead road · last 30 outcomes

Play a hand to start the road.

Red is Banker, blue is Player, green is Tie. Real tables display this too, but it only shows history. Baccarat has no memory: each shoe reshuffle is independent, and no pattern here changes the odds of the next card.

Recent Hands

Played hands show up here with the cards, the totals, and the result.

Keys: B bet Banker P bet Player T bet Tie C clear bets Enter deal / next G toggle guided mode

Baccarat has no decisions to make once your bet is down. Every card after that follows a fixed rule, called the third-card rule. This page explains the rule the dealer follows, the payouts, and why Banker is the bet with the smallest house edge, so the guided walkthrough makes sense the moment you turn it on.

How a hand plays out

1Bets are placed on Player, Banker, Tie, and/or a Pair before any cards are dealt.
2Two cards go to Player, two go to Banker. Tens and face cards count as zero, aces count as one, everything else at pip value. Drop the tens digit if the total runs over nine.
3If either hand totals 8 or 9, that is a natural. Both hands stand and the higher total wins.
4Otherwise the Player hand draws a third card on a total of 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7.
5The Banker hand then draws or stands by the rule below, which depends on the Banker's own total and, if the Player drew, the value of the Player's third card.
6Whichever hand is closer to nine wins. Bets are settled, including the 5% commission on a winning Banker bet.

Payouts and house edge (8-deck shoe)

Banker (5% commission)	0.95 to 1
Player	1 to 1
Tie	8 to 1
Player Pair / Banker Pair	11 to 1

Banker edge 1.06% Player edge 1.24% Tie edge 14.36% Pair edge 10.36%

On a Tie, Player and Banker main bets push (returned, no win or loss). The Tie bet only pays out when the hands tie.

The Banker third-card rule

Read this only when the Player hand did not stand on 6 or 7. If the Player stood, the Banker follows the same 0-5 draw, 6-7 stand rule as the Player. Columns are the Player's third card.

Banker total	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Banker on 7 always stands. Banker on 0, 1, or 2 always draws, no matter what the Player drew.

The words that matter

CoupOne round of baccarat, from the bets going down to the payout.
NaturalA Player or Banker total of 8 or 9 on the first two cards. No third card is drawn when a natural is on the table.
ShoeThe dealing box holding all the decks in play, usually eight decks in a US casino.
CommissionThe 5% the house holds back on winning Banker bets, since Banker wins slightly more often than Player.
Punto BancoThe formal name for the fixed-rule version of baccarat played in almost every US casino. Punto is Player, Banco is Banker.

Common mistakes

Betting the Tie for the payout. Eight to one looks good, but a tie only lands around 9.5% of the time, which is why the house edge runs over 14%. It is the worst regular bet on the table.
Forgetting the commission. A Banker win pays 0.95 to 1, not even money. A $20 Banker win pays $19, not $20.
Reading the bead road for a pattern. Real tables keep a scorecard too, but every coup is independent. A run of Banker wins does not make Player more likely next hand.
Chasing the Pair side bets as a main strategy. They run over 10% house edge. Fine for a single unit of fun, not a betting plan.

Rules, payouts, and house edge figures from Michael Shackleford, Wizard of Odds — Baccarat and Wizard of Odds — Baccarat Side Bets, based on an eight-deck shoe.

About this baccarat trainer

Baccarat looks intimidating at the table because of the French terms and the fast dealing, but the game itself asks nothing of you except a bet. You back Player, Banker, or a Tie, and a fixed set of rules called the third-card rule decides everything that happens next. There is no hand to read, no decision to second-guess, and no strategy chart to memorize. This trainer exists to make the mechanics click before you ever sit at a real table, so the dealer's moves stop feeling arbitrary.

How the trainer works

Place a bet on Player, Banker, Tie, or either Pair, then deal. With guided mode on, the trainer pauses after every step, the opening two cards, the natural check, the Player's third-card decision, and the Banker's, and explains in plain language why the rule applied the way it did. Turn guided mode off and the same hand plays out in quick staged beats with no pauses, so you can run hands fast once the rule is familiar. Either way, every payout including the Banker commission is shown in full when the hand resolves.

Why Banker is the standard advice

Because the Banker hand acts after seeing the Player's result, it can react to information the Player hand never had. That positional edge is small, but real, which is exactly why the house charges a 5% commission on winning Banker bets. Even after that commission, Banker keeps the lowest house edge of the three main bets. The How It Works tab lays out the exact third-card rule table and the published house edge for every bet on the layout.

Practice only

This is a free learning tool that uses play money and keeps nothing between sessions. There is no signup and no real-money wagering. Use it to learn the flow of the table, then treat what you see here as education, not a system. No pattern in the bead road, no streak, and no betting progression changes the fixed odds behind Player, Banker, or Tie.