The baccarat house edge
Three bets, three prices. The whole of baccarat economics fits on one page, and the cheapest bet on the layout is also the one most players skip.
Short answer
With eight decks and a 5% commission, the Banker bet costs 1.06% of every unit wagered, the Player bet costs 1.24%, and a Tie paying 8 to 1 costs 14.36%. A Tie paying 9 to 1 costs 4.84%. A no-commission table that pays half on a Banker win with a total of 6 costs 1.46%, which is worse than paying the commission.
How the numbers are built
The engine enumerates every deal from a full shoe and returns exact win probabilities. Everything else is arithmetic on those three numbers. For eight decks: Banker wins 45.8597%, Player wins 44.6247%, and ties are 9.5156%.
- Player. You win 44.6247% and lose 45.8597%, and ties push. Expected value is 0.446247 minus 0.458597, which is
-0.012351, so the house edge is 1.24%. - Banker. A win pays 0.95 after commission. Expected value is 0.95 times 0.458597 minus 0.446247, which is
-0.010579, so the house edge is 1.06%. - Tie at 8 to 1. You win 8 units 9.5156% of the time and lose 1 unit the other 90.4844%. Expected value is
-0.143596, a house edge of 14.36%.
Note what the commission is doing. Without it the Banker bet would return a positive 1.24% to the player. The 5% charge takes that back and leaves 1.06% for the house, which is why the commission exists and why it is not negotiable.
Every bet, priced
| Bet (8 decks) | Payout | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| Banker, 5% commission | 0.95 to 1 | 1.06% |
| Banker, no commission, win with 6 pays half | 1 to 1 or 0.5 to 1 | 1.46% |
| Player | 1 to 1 | 1.24% |
| Tie | 9 to 1 | 4.84% |
| Tie | 8 to 1 | 14.36% |
Per hand played, or per hand resolved
The figures above are per unit wagered, counting ties as a push. Some sources quote the edge per hand that actually resolves, which removes the 9.52% of deals that push. On that basis Banker costs 1.17% and Player costs 1.36%. Both views are correct. The per-unit-wagered version is the one that matches what leaves your bankroll per hour, so it is the one used across this site.
Deck count barely moves it
| Shoe | Banker | Player | Tie at 8 to 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 decks | 1.06% | 1.24% | 14.36% |
| 6 decks | 1.06% | 1.24% | 14.44% |
| 1 deck | 1.01% | 1.29% | 15.75% |
Unlike blackjack, deck count is not a rule worth shopping for in baccarat. What is worth checking is the commission structure and the Tie payout, because those move the number by whole percentage points.
What it costs per hour
Cost per hour is the house edge times your average bet times hands dealt per hour. Hands per hour depends on the table and the crowd, and this site does not publish a figure it has not measured. TODO: measured hands-per-hour figures for full-table and mini-baccarat are not yet validated and are deliberately omitted. Multiply 1.06% by your average Banker bet to get the cost per hand, and by whatever hand rate you observe.
Common questions
Is a no-commission table better?
No. Paying half on a Banker win with a total of 6 sounds narrow, but that outcome lands on 5.39% of deals, and halving it costs more than the 5% commission it replaces. The no-commission Banker bet costs 1.46% against 1.06% for the standard game.
Can I avoid the commission by betting Player?
You can, and it costs you. Player has no commission but wins less often, and the net price is 1.24% against 1.06%. The commission is not a penalty, it is the price of the better hand.
Why do some sites quote 1.17% for Banker?
They are quoting the edge per resolved hand, which excludes ties. Per unit wagered, including the pushes, Banker is 1.06%. Both are the same game described two ways.