Baccarat rules, third-card draws and house edge.
Two hands, one decision, and a drawing rule nobody has to memorise because the dealer applies it for you. It carries one of the lowest house edges on the floor, and one of the highest if you pick the wrong bet.
How hands are scored
Aces count one, cards two through nine count their face value, and tens and all picture cards count zero. Add the cards and drop the tens digit: a seven and a six make thirteen, which scores three. Nine is the best hand there is.
Two hands are dealt, Player and Banker, and you bet on which will end higher, or that they will tie. You are not the Player; both hands belong to the table and you are betting on an outcome.
If either hand totals eight or nine from its first two cards, that is a natural. The round ends immediately and no more cards are drawn.
The third-card rule
This is the part that looks complicated and never needs to be memorised: the dealer applies it, and it is fixed. The Player hand acts first: it draws on a total of 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7.
What the Banker does then depends on the card the Player drew. If the Player stood, the Banker simply draws on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7.
| Banker total | Banker draws when the Player's third card is |
|---|---|
| 0-2 | Always draws |
| 3 | Anything except an 8 |
| 4 | 2-7 |
| 5 | 4-7 |
| 6 | 6 or 7 |
| 7 | Always stands |
The bets, and the commission
Banker wins slightly more often than Player, because it acts second and can respond to what the Player drew. The house corrects for that with a 5% commission on winning Banker bets, which is why Banker pays 0.95 to 1 rather than evenly.
Even after the commission, Banker remains the better bet. Tie pays 8:1 and looks tempting; at that price it carries an edge of more than fourteen per cent, which is among the worst bets in the room.
It exists because Banker genuinely wins more often. Without it the bet would favour the player, and the table would not offer it.
| Bet | Pays | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| Banker | 0.95 : 1 (5% commission) | 1.06% |
| Player | 1 : 1 | 1.24% |
| Tie | 8 : 1 | 14.36% |
| Tie (where paid 9:1) | 9 : 1 | 4.85% |
| Player / Banker pair | 11 : 1 | ≈10.4% |
How Roulette Streaks watches it
Baccarat produces long, clean runs (the same side winning over and over), which is exactly what the streak counter is built for. Roulette Streaks tracks those runs and the gaps between outcomes, and alerts when one grows unusual for the table.
As everywhere else, the alert reports what has happened. The 1.06% is unchanged by any of it.
Frequently asked
- What is baccarat?
- Two hands, Player and Banker, are dealt and you bet on which finishes closer to nine. Drawing is fixed by rule so no decisions are passed to you, and Banker carries the lowest house edge on the table at 1.06%.
- Which baccarat bet has the lowest house edge?
- Banker, at 1.06%, even after the 5% commission on wins. Player is 1.24%. Tie is 14.36% at the usual 8:1 and should be treated as a novelty rather than a bet.
- Why is there a commission on Banker bets?
- Because the Banker hand acts second and can react to the Player's third card, it wins slightly more often than it loses. The 5% commission removes that advantage and leaves the house with its margin.
- Do I need to learn the third-card rules?
- No. They are fixed and the dealer applies them automatically, and no decision is ever passed to you. Knowing them only helps you follow what is happening.