Live baccarat variations and rules summary

Set out below is a very brief rule summary for standard (or mini) baccarat, consideration of return to player rates or house edges for the different bet options, and then summaries of the key baccarat variations offered via video stream by casinos listed at livedealer.org.

Standard Baccarat rules

Playing tips and house edge considerations

Mini Baccarat

In Running Baccarat

Progressive Baccarat

Baccarat Pairs or Lucky Pairs

Dragon Bonus

Zero Commission

Other useful links

Standard Baccarat rules

Standard Baccarat, Mini Baccarat or Punto Banco are commonly used to refer essentially to the same game (particularly by casinos listed on this site).

Baccarat is a very simple game that involves a bet being placed at the deal outset on either 'Player', 'Banker' or a 'Tie' and letting the dealer do the rest.

I don't want to spend too much time on the rules of the game - house rules for every baccarat variation offered by listed casinos are included where relevant, and we've made the assumption that if you've found this site you've probably already played a game or two in your time and are just looking for a good live online option.

For the benefit of newcomers to the game, the rules of baccarat, as commonly offered online can be summarized as follows:

• The dealer deals 2 hands.  One to the 'Banker' and one to the 'Player' (these refer to bet options not participants in the game);

• Players (ie you) bet on the deal outcome - 3 bets are possible; either Banker win, Player win or a Tie;

• Once bets are placed, 2 cards are dealt to both the 'Player' and 'Banker';

• The winning hand is the hand closest to 9;

• Cards values are as follows: Aces = 1 | 10s, pictures = 0 | others = face value;

• Best hand is a 2 card total of 9 ("Natural").  Second best is a 2 card total of 8 ("Natural 8");

• Additional cards are drawn by either Player or Banker according to the below deal conventions
  (Third card rule):

  For the 'Player':

  Point value of first two cards
  0-1-2-3-4-5	Draws a third card
  6-7	No more cards
  8-9	Natural, no more cards

  
  For the 'Banker':

  Point value of first two cards:	Draw when the Player's  third card is:	Does not draw when the Player's third card is:
  0-1-2	Always draws a card	-
  3	0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9	8
  4	2-3-4-5-6-7	0-1-8-9
  5	4-5-6-7	0-1-2-3-8-9
  6	6-7	0-1-2-3-4-5-8-9
  7	Always stands	-
  8-9	Player cannot draw	Player cannot draw

   

• Payouts for winning bets are as follows:

  Winning hand	Odds
  Banker (less 5% commission 'Vigorish')	1 - 1
  Player	1 - 1
  Tie	8 - 1

Playing tips and house edge considerations

OK so if you read the above you are now aware that this is a pretty simple game.  Make a bet choice, of which there are only 3, and wait for the deal outcome and hopefully the payout.

But with 3 bet choices the obvious question frugal players will be wondering is whether there is a difference in returns attributable to the different bet options, and if so, which is the best paying bet?

Calculated house edges for baccarat dealt from an 8 deck shoe (as is the common variant offered live online) are as follows:

So the clear message to take here is to bet on the Banker and avoid Tie bets.

Mini Baccarat

What is it?

Some live casinos offer what they call 'Mini Baccarat' or 'Punto Banco'.  Essentially you are playing identical rules to the games offered as 'Standard Baccarat', although the virtual table layout may be slightly simplified.  A nice example of this distinction can be found at our Playtech (Asia dealer studio) live baccarat page or comparing the below screenshots.

Mini baccarat:	Standard baccarat:

The rules applying to both games are identical.  The only difference is that the mini baccarat table is represented in single play format, rather than having 7 bet boxes.  That is, the difference is only a presentational one and not really one that you should be concerned about when choosing which game you want to play.

Where can I play it?

Take your pick of live casinos for this one.  Most platforms/casinos offer baccarat presented in Mini table format, including:

In Running Baccarat

What is it?

This may well be the most complicated live baccarat variation to completely understand.  It offers players the option of betting at a number of stages during the deal - hence the name In-Running.

The game begins with the dealer opening the betting round and you may bet on 'Banker' or 'Player' or 'Tie' just as you would playing standard baccarat - and if you place no further bets during the course of the deal, your payouts will be as if you paid the standard version.

After the dealer deals a single card to the 'Player' hand, a second betting round is opened.  And depending on the card dealt, game odds and handicap values for the Player and Banker positions are calculated and will apply to any bets placed.  Then the Banker card is dealt, and again a betting round is opened with odds and handicap values applying based on the cards dealt - and so on until the deal concludes in accordance with the standard baccarat deal convention.

The handicapping system used is loosely based on the Asian double handicaps commonly applied in sports betting.  At the conclusion of the deal, players are paid out according to all bets placed and attributed handicap odds applied.

Make sense?  You'll need more than a short explanation to get the hang of this one and should read the full In-Running baccarat house rules before playing.

Where can I play it?
 

Progressive Baccarat

What is it?

OK this is a really simple one.  Think plain old standard baccarat with an optional side bet that gives you a buy-in to possibly win a progressive jackpot, or other amounts according to a payout table.  Presently only the one platform offers a progressive live baccarat game (Playtech Asian platform) and the applicable payout table is as follows:

Where can I play it?

Baccarat Pairs or Lucky Pairs

What is it?

Baccarat pairs is offered by a few casinos listed on this site that are powered by either Microgaming or Entertasia's software. It's simply standard baccarat with the option of a side bet that may be placed on the possibility that the first 2 cards dealt to the 'Player' or 'Banker' hands are a pair.

Both platforms offering this game pay 11:1 on hitting your chosen 'Player' or 'Banker' pair bet.  Choose the 'Player' pair side bet and wager $10 and you get $110 if the first 2 cards dealt to this hand are a pair.

Microgaming's version also offers an 'either pair bet' (ie a pair is dealt to either 'Player' or 'Banker') paying 5:1.

Entertasia's version offers shortcut buttons called the '2 Way' and '3 Way' which are simply bets on both pairs, and both pairs plus a Tie respectively.

[Update Jan 2010] - Evolution Gaming have now added pairs side bets, including '2 Way' and '3 Way' bets to their baccarat options.  Again, the pairs bets pay 11:1.

Where can I play it?

Dragon Bonus

What is it?

Dragon Bonus baccarat is standard baccarat with an optional 'Player' and 'Banker' bonus side bet.  The payout on the bonus side bet will depend on how much your chosen hand wins by.  If for example you take the 'Banker' bonus side bet and the Banker hand draws a Non Natural 9 and beats the 'Player hand by 9 points, your side bet pays 30:1.

Below is the full payout table applicable to side-bets:

Where can I play it?

Zero Commission

What is it?

Almost not worthy of a mention, Zero Commission baccarat, as offered by some Microgaming casinos, scraps the 5% commission or vigorish that is deducted from the 1:1 payout on 'Banker' wins and replaces it with the following:

"Wins on the Banker hand pay out at odds of 1:1, except when the value of the Banker’s hand equals eight. If the value of the winning Banker’s hand equals eight you are paid out at odds of 1:2"

That is to say - a different way of framing the house commission.

Where can I play it?