Play Live Baccarat in online casinos!

Baccarat is one of the most popular casino card games in Vegas and Macau while it is also a hit in online casinos worldwide. The game’s origins are still relatively unknown, but you can trace its history back to the legendary casinos of 1940s Havana, where a similar variant of Baccarat known as Punto Banco was all the rage.

Today, Baccarat is still as popular as it was back in the days when the game was a Havana sensation, spreading its wings across the globe where players in Europe, and Macau in particular, embrace this fast-paced card game played versus the house.

In this guide, you will learn about how to play Baccarat versus live dealers via an Ultra-HD webcam.

We will also cover the highly sophisticated, but very easy to use, betting software that enables you to place virtual chips on live Baccarat tables giving you that real-life casino look and feel, while we additionally look at Baccarat tips and tricks, bonus deals, rules, live dealer brands, and the multiple variants of Live Baccarat available to play at live casinos online in your jurisdiction.

Play Live Baccarat in your currency: You can play Baccarat using Canadian Dollar (CAD), Indian Rupee (INR), UK Sterling (GBP), South African Rand (ZAR), New Zealand Dollar (NZD), Euros (EUR), Australian Dollars (AUD), and many other currencies. You can also play using crypto. And you can find casinos accepting these currencies via our online casinos with live games overview.

What are the Rules Of Live Baccarat?

Essentially, you can easily master live baccarat after just a few hands. Your mission is to bet on the ‘Player’ (Punto) and beat the ‘Banker’ (Banco) hand to win, or vice versa. You also have the option to bet on a ‘Tie’.

Once you bet, there is no other action required of you unless there is a ‘side bet’ game, then you can also place these additional bonus bets too. This is exactly why Baccarat is such a straightforward game to learn. Unlike Blackjack, there is no ‘split’, ‘Double Down’, ‘Stand’, or ‘Hit’ actions required after you bet.

Betting Options On Live Baccarat Tables

• Bet on the ‘Player’ hand to win
• Bet on the ‘Banker’ hand to win
• Bet on a ‘Tie’
• Bet on side bets if available

The Winning Hand

The winning hand, ‘Banker’ or ‘Player’ is the one that reaches the closest total to 9. When you win, your payout is even odds 1-1. However, if the hands ‘Tie’ neither the ‘Banker’ or ‘Player’ wins. If this outcome occurs and you bet on the ‘Tie’ then you will win 8-1 which is standard. That being said, depending on where you play, some variants pay slightly longer or shorter odds on the ‘Tie’ bet.

How To Determine The Hand Value in Live Baccarat

As your only job is to choose a betting option, you have no control over the outcome of the ‘Player’ or ‘Banker’ hand value. The dealer will determine when to draw a new card. However, it still helps to understand the value of each card.

All face cards and 10 cards have a value of ‘0’. The Ace is worth 1 point, and then all other card values are as per the number on the card. For example, a 2-card is worth 2 points, and a 9-card is worth 9 points. However, as there is more than 1 card per hand, you also need to understand how the card values combine.

Every time the total of combined cards reaches a value of 10, the 10 value is substrate. For example, a 5-card + 7-card = 12. The dealer will subtract the 10 bringing the hand value to 2. A 5-card + 5-card equaling 10 will still have 10 subtracted bringing the hand value to 0. The same process continues even with a 3-card hand.

Explained differently, only single digits count as the hand value, so the game removes the first number in a double-digit hand total. So, a 10 is 0, a 12 is 2, a 17 is 7, a 19 is 9, and a 20 hand value is 0.

We also know baccarat as ‘Punto Banco’ which means ‘Player Banker’ – the 2 main betting options players can stake for even odds payouts, while the ‘Tie’ bet will pay 8-1 on most baccarat tables.

Live Baccarat Game Guide

Your first step to playing live dealer baccarat tables usually begins with selecting a software provider that you like. You will then need to find an online casino with live baccarat tables from that provider. We will guide you through the entire process covering the complete list of live dealer software platform brands that offer you the chance to play live baccarat.

We cover the different variants of baccarat such as Baccarat Squeeze and Baccarat No Commission each live dealer platform brand has in its collection, and then we will also help you find a live baccarat casino with an enticing bonus deal.

Once you sign up and make a deposit and/or claim your bonus, all you need to do is head over to the Baccarat lobby and choose a live baccarat table to play. Each one will come with different min-max bets, and you will need to choose a table variant that suits your budget.

Steps to playing Baccarat Live at your online casino:

• Select a live Baccarat table from the live casino lobby
• Make sure the table offers min-max bets that suit your budget
• Choose your bet size and place your virtual chips on the live felts
• A real life dealer will deal your cards and manage the gameplay
• If you win, the casino software automatically pays you in virtual chips
• For a loss, the casino software removes your virtual chips
• You can interact with the dealer at anytime via live chat

Baccarat Game Sequence

Your only job on the Baccarat table is to place bets on any of the options available to you. Once all bets are off, then the outcome of the game is out of your hands and down to the dealer. In fact, some people believe that some ‘dealers’ are good luck, and they will always look for their favourite ‘lucky Baccarat dealer’ when they log on and play at their favourite live casino.

There are 5 steps to the game:

1. Place you bet on ‘Player’ or ‘Banker’ + ‘Tie’ and/or ‘Side Bets’
2. Dealer places 2 face-up cards in the ‘Banker’ area and 2 more on the ‘Player’ area
3. The dealer will add a third card if the rules require additional cards
4. Dealer will announce which bet won (Dealer, Player, or Tie + Side Bets)
5. The casino pays all winning bets

Live Baccarat Payout Odds

Baccarat is popular not just because it is a simple game to learn and its fast-paced action, but also because of its low house edge.

1-Deck Baccarat

• Player Bet: 1.29% (98.71% Theoretical RTP)
• Banker Bet: 1.01% (98.99% Theoretical RTP)
• Tie: 15.75% (84.25% Theoretical RTP)

6-Deck Baccarat

• Player Bet: 1.24% (98.76% Theoretical RTP)
• Banker Bet: 1.06% (98.94% Theoretical RTP)
• Tie: 14.44% (85.56% Theoretical RTP)

8-Deck Baccarat

• Player Bet: 1.24% (98.76% Theoretical RTP)
• Banker Bet: 1.06% (98.94% Theoretical RTP)
• Tie: 14.36% (85.64% Theoretical RTP)

The Third Card Rule in Baccarat

The ‘Player’ or ‘Banker’ hands can only have a maximum of 3 cards. The extra card comes into play when the 2-card hand equals 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. However, if the ‘Player’ or ‘Banker’ has a hand value of 8 or 9, the hand with either of these totals automatically wins.

If the ‘banker’ hand draws a third card this is because the third card in the player’s hand resulted in a total between 0 and 3. If the third card in the player’s hand reaches a score of 6 or 7, the banker also draws a third card, provided that the first two cards are not worth over 5 points.

You don’t have to calculate whether the ‘banker’ or ‘player’ needs a third card because the dealer does this for you at all Baccarat live dealer casinos.

When does the player hand get a third card?

• Never: When the ‘Player’ or ‘Banker’ 2-card total is a natural 8 or 9
• Player draws always when the 2-card total is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5
• If the ‘Banker’ score is 0, 1, or 2, the ‘banker’ always draws a third card
• If the ‘Banker’ score is 3, the ‘Banker’ draws if the ‘Player’ 3-card total is 0 to 7 or a 9
• If the ‘Banker’ score is 4, the ‘Banker’ draws if the ‘Player’ 3-card total is 2 to 7
• If the ‘Banker’ score is 5, the ‘Banker’ draws if the ‘Player’ 3-card total is 4 to 7
• If the ‘Banker’ score is 6 the ‘Banker’ draws if the ‘Player’ 3-card total is 6 or 7
• If the ‘Banker’ score is 7 the ‘Banker’ draws on any ‘Player’ 3-card total

Getting Paid Playing Live Baccarat

The ‘Player’ and ‘Banker’ bets pay out even odds, so if you bet 1 the house pays back 2, which is your bet of 1 returned plus 1. However, the ‘Banker’ bet has a 5% commission and so you will see the return for this bet displayed as 0.95:1.

For example, if you bet €10, a winning ‘player’ bet will pay €10 while a winning ‘Banker’ bet will pay €19, which is minus the 5% commission. The odds on the If you are playing Baccarat No Commission, then there is no 5% commission for winning banker bets.

You will also see different odds paid for side bets. ‘Perfect Pairs’ is a popular side bet that pays out 25 to 1 while some live Baccarat tables offer a progressive jackpot bonus bet that will pay out whatever the jackpot counter is up to when the dealer presents the qualifying hand.

Table Limits at Live Baccarat Casinos

Most live Baccarat casinos have a minimum bet of €1 per hand, with very few casinos offering bets as low as €0.50 per hand. Many of the more upscale tables such as ‘Baccarat Squeeze’ start with a minimum bet of €5.

To be honest, the house edge is so low that playing live Baccarat at lower stakes is arguably not worth it. For those of you that want to bet higher limits, then the best Baccarat tables are the ones in the lobby with ‘VIP; in the title. These tables usually start with a minimum of €50 and go up to €250, while you will find there are tables that accept max bets as high as €5,000 to €15,000 catering for the casino whales out there!

Different variants for live baccarat games

Here are just some of the different variants of Baccarat you will find at baccarat live casinos. You will also find a list of baccarat tables available in our software manufacturer reviews.

• Punto Banco: Uses the original rules with standard ‘Player’, ‘Banker’, or ‘Tie’
• Speed ​​Baccarat: This is a sped-up version of Baccarat played at high speed. The live dealer reveals the cards immediately, and there are only a few seconds between evaluating the winner and the next hand. Many players use an auto-play function to repeat the same bet without having to intervene.
• Progressive Baccarat: The game is subject to standard rules with an optional side bet with a progressive jackpot. The jackpot is usually for a hand with an ‘Ace’ and ‘8’ card of the same suit. If the banker and player lands this combination, then players can expect a progressive jackpot that could be worth anything up to 10,000x their bet.
• No Commission Baccarat: There is ‘No Commission’ applied to winning ‘Banker’ bets, so this bet pays at 1:1. However, there are some slight changes to the rules. If you bet on the ‘Banker’ and win with an 8 or sometimes a 6, then the payout is 1:2 or 0.5:1 instead of 1:1 thus giving you shorter odds and the ‘Banker’ bet house edge rises to 4.07%.
• Lightning Baccarat: Bonus is the keyword in this evolution card game. 1-5 Lightning Cards generate at random with multipliers worth 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x or 8x.
• Baccarat Super 6: This is an Ezugi live baccarat table with a Super 6 side be. If you bet and the Banker wins with a 6 you win the side bet.
• Baccarat Squeeze: The live Baccarat table has multiple cameras revealing cards and squeezing them into play. The same standard baccarat rules apply but the difference is that instead of a single camera, each action is followed closely by the different cameras making the experience all that much more intimate.
• Dragon Tiger Baccarat: This is a popular way to play a form of baccarat with just 1 card dealt to the ‘Dragon’ and 1 card dealt to the ‘Tiger’. The highest card wins and the pay is 1:1 while there is also a tie bet that pays 11:1 and a suited Tie Bet that pays out 50:1.
• Dual Play Baccarat: This game gives you the chance to play baccarat tables in land-based casinos via a webcam while other players are physically sitting and placing bets at the same live baccarat table. It is also available for tablet and smartphone players!

10 Live Baccarat Strategy, Tips, and Tricks

Baccarat is not as intricate as Blackjack or Poker because there are no decisions to make that will affect the outcome of each hand. Therefore, there are no basic strategy charts to learn as with blackjack and no ‘outs’ or ‘percentages’ to calculate as with poker. In a way Baccarat is a ‘bet and go’ style casino game.

Albeit the simplicity of baccarat does not mean it does not have its fair share of strategy, tips, and tricks. Below, we have a short list of just some of the ways you can reduce your losses and increase your chances of winning when you play live baccarat online.

1. Avoid Baccarat No Commission games because the house edge increases on the ‘Banker’ bet, which is also the most useful bet considering its higher chance of winning
2. Focus on ‘Banker’ bets because the house edge is lower than the ‘Player’ bet
3. Only bet on the ‘Tie’ option when ‘Banker’ and ‘Player’ hands win several times consecutively – on average the ‘Tie’ comes in around once in 10 hands
4. Try and implement different strategies such as ‘Positive Progressions’, ‘Negative Progression Systems’, and ‘Flat Betting Strategies’.
5. Do not try to card count playing Baccarat until you are an established player. It is very hard to card count playing Baccarat and the edge gained is not as effective as Blackjack
6. Manage your money correctly – bankroll management is important with any Baccarat casino game you play including bet sizing and planning, session budgets
7. New players should avoid Mini Baccarat because the game speed is so fast – you do not want to lose yourself from the offset!
8. Place side bets strategically – side bets often have a much larger house edge than traditional bets so only bet on side bets such as Perfect Pairs when this hand has not appeared for some time
9. Take advantage of tools available to you such as live chat to ask questions if you are not sure. This is great for social gaming and to reassure you help is at hand
10. Use our reviews and suggestions to fish out the best bonus deals so you can increase your session times and win free money with bonus bets on live baccarat tables