- The aim of baccarat is to correctly guess whether the “banker” or “player” hand will win.
- Betting on the player and banker hand will offer similar odds (the banker is ever-so-slightly more likely to win), but the tie wager has the lowest odds of winning (with a higher payout to offset these odds) of the regular bets.
- There are many different variants of baccarat.
- Side bet options are available, which have lower odds of winning but higher payout odds.
Baccarat has a huge player base in casinos across the world, where it serves as the go-to game for players who prefer low house edge and low strategy gameplay. No wonder baccarat has made the leap into the online casino game world.
With a unique set of scoring rules and a small selection of core bet types, baccarat plays a little differently than most other table games. Read on to learn about the baccarat bet odds, house edge, and payouts that players can expect to see.
How Do Baccarat Bets Work?
Rather than having their own hand of cards that they make decisions on, players bet on one of two hands, labeled the “player” and “banker” hands. However, these labels are just descriptive — players can’t affect either hand. The dealer will deal two cards face-up to each hand, then, according to specific rules based on hand totals, may or may not deal out a third card to either hand. Both hands are then compared, and players who bet on the stronger hand are paid-out.
Cards are valued according to their printed number, with aces valued as one. Tens and face cards are valued at zero. The entire value of a hand is totaled, with the tens-column of the total being dropped. For example, the final value of a hand that totals to 15 would be 5, as the “1” is dropped.
Under these rules, the highest possible hand total is nine. If the player or banker hand is dealt an eight or nine, that is considered a “natural” and the hand automatically wins. Aside from betting on whether the banker or player will win, players can also bet that the two hands will tie.
Baccarat Odds
Compared to other table games like blackjack, baccarat odds are much easier to follow. Both the banker and player hands offer similar odds. However, the banker hand has different rules to decide whether it receives a third card. These extra rules give the banker hand a slight edge.
The probability of the banker hand winning is 45.86% while the odds for the player hand is 44.62%. Over the course of an extended play session, a player could expect to see roughly the same number of hands won by the banker or the player. On the other hand, the tie bet has odds of 9.52%.
Baccarat House Edge
The result of these fantastically consistent baccarat betting odds is a pleasantly low house edge:
- Banker hand: 1.06% house edge
- Player hand: 1.24% house edge
- Tie bet: 14.40% house edge
Again, the tie bet is an obvious outlier. Experienced baccarat players generally avoid the tie bet and only consider it when they’re willing to risk it.
In contrast, a common tip for players is to bet on the banker in every hand. The slightly lower house edge will lead to more wins on paper. But keep in mind that these numbers describe the theoretical probability of baccarat. The practical outcome of multiple games will differ from the objective math.
Baccarat Payouts
With such a low house edge, it should come as no surprise that most baccarat payouts are fairly modest. Players will most often encounter the payout for a winning player or banker bet, which is +100, or even money. The trick to success is to try and average out wins and losses in baccarat over a number of hands, while sticking to a budget and walking away if a winning or losing streak hits.
It’s also worth noting that the banker bet payout comes with a 5% commission taken by the casino. This is being banker bet odds are better than player bet odds.
Tie bets, while less likely, are balanced out by a larger payout. A winning tie bet pays +800, making it the best paying bet in classic baccarat rules.
| Bet | House Edge | Payout |
| Banker bet | 1.06% | +100 (excluding commission) |
| Player bet | 1.24% | +100 |
| Tie bet | 14.40% | +800 |
Baccarat Variant Payouts
The popularity of online baccarat has led to a number of ruleset variants that mix-up the traditional formula. Whether choosing a variant based on aesthetics or new gameplay, consider the odds and payouts available in the tweaked rules. Here are some of the most common variant rules for baccarat.
Live Dealer Baccarat
Live dealer titles are run by a human dealer working out of a studio, who is live-streamed to players across Ontario. Several classic live dealer baccarat titles are available, which use the base ruleset.
But there are live dealer variants that add in new rules. Lightning Baccarat adds randomly-generated payout multipliers to a few cards every round — win with that card in hand to claim the multiplier. The odds of winning don’t change, but payouts can be increased by up to 8x.
Another live variant is Seotda Baccarat, which runs the game using a 20-card Korean Hwatu card deck. The new rules also eliminate the possibility of being dealt a third card. Winning bets on both banker and player hands pay +100 with no commission, and tie bets pay +1300.
Baccarat Side Bets
Due to the limited selection of betting options in base baccarat, side bets are a common fixture in variant titles. Side bets come with their own baccarat betting odds built on risk-vs-reward gameplay. For consistency, stick to traditional bets; for large potential payouts, try side bets.
The most popular side bets in baccarat include:
- Perfect pair: pays +2,500 if the banker or player hand is dealt two identical cards.
- Dragon 7: pays +4,000 if the banker hand wins with three cards and a total of exactly seven.
- Panda 8: pays +2,500 if the player hand wins with three cards and a total of exactly eight.
- Dragon Bonus: pays between +100 and +3,000 depending on how much stronger the winning hand is over the losing hand, or if the winning hand is a natural.
