How to Play the Main Baccarat Types

Though baccarat has been around for a long time and is a favorite game of casino players, there are more baccarat types than you might think. At a land-based casino, you will often find baccarat among the table games, but when playing online, many variations will be available to you.

This article outlines the key types of baccarat you will find in casinos, in-person and online. Read on or use the navigation below to find information about each variation and get playing now. If you’d like to try something different, another option is to play online roulette and see how the two games compare.

• The History of Baccarat Variations
• Common Types of Baccarat: Punto Banco
• More Baccarat Variations

The History of Baccarat Variations

Baccarat is a game with a slightly disputed origin. Though many believe it has been played since the 1800s, others claim its origins to be as early back as the 15th century. Understandably, the game has crossed borders and rules have been developed and modified over many years. Thus, we now have many different types of baccarat to enjoy!

History tells us that baccarat was played by French nobility in the 19th century, often around private gaming parlors in noble estates. It was a game for the upper class – but its start might have in fact been in Italy, where some claim Italian soldiers played it and ultimately introduced it to the French.

Regardless, the game eventually made its way around the world and became the one that many players love to this day. It remains available as a table game at some of the finest casinos, and has been translated into virtual versions for online players. Whether you are a long-time player or you are coming to the game for the first time, you can use this baccarat guide to explore new types of games and find one that sounds appealing to you.

Common Types of Baccarat: Punto Banco

“Baccarat” is often synonymous with “Punto Banco,” which is possibly the most popular variation of the game. Of all baccarat types, this is the one you will most likely find at your local casino – that is if you are based in the US, UK, Macau, Finland, Sweden or Australia! The drawing rules are fixed in a punto banco style baccarat game, defined as the “tableau” or “board.” Though punto banco is one of the most prevalent types of baccarat, it is not considered the original since the earlier styles of the game allow for players to make more choices, determining the rules with each new coup.

The words “punto” and “banco” are designations for the two hands that a bettor can bet on during each coup of the game. Punto is the “player” hand while “banco” stands for the banker hand; however, they are only names and these hands do not actually represent the player or the casino. That means the player does not bet against themself or for the casino – they simply choose the hand they believe is more likely to win, or opt for a third choice of a tie.

The Banker’s Advantage

In general, punto banco is a fairly straightforward game, but there are a few important rules to note. To start, you bet before any of the hand is dealt – as opposed to blackjack or poker – so players are essentially making a guess as to which hand will be more favorable. The banker hand is considered marginally more likely to win, therefore rather than a 1:1 win, the casino takes a 5% commission from wins on the banker hand.

Baccarat Ties and Other Rules

If a hand results in a tie, the player is automatically refunded their chips, unless they have bet on the tie option. Ties are much less likely results, so winning a tie bet will reward you 8:1 in most casinos. One of the best things about baccarat is that the dealer does all of the math in this game, so you don’t have to worry at all about quickly deducing whether a played hand has resulted in a tie or not!

This is also handy because baccarat math is slightly complicated and there are some additional rules beyond the counting of points up to or over nine. Depending on the hand, player and banker might also have to draw a third card, which raises their risk of going over the nine mark, and so on. We won’t go into the full rules here, but it can be handy to look at a baccarat chart (similar to a blackjack basic strategy chart) to learn the outcomes of each hand. However, as we said, dealers are responsible for knowing this information by heart – so you do not have to.

Following the Shoe and Mini-Streaks

A shoe is the box of cards that the hands are dealt from and often contains six to eight decks of playing cards. That amount makes it nearly impossible to keep track of which cards have been played and to guess what might come up next – blackjack this is not! The game is meant to be as much about chance as possible.

Despite this, players often bet by trying to “follow the shoe” and catch a mini-streak. The idea behind this is similar to the gambler’s fallacy. Players see a winning “player” hand and might bet on player again, guessing there is a pattern – or vice versa with the banker hand. However, thanks to the number of decks involved, the odds are just the same on the next hand. Watching a baccarat game for some time, it is clear that there are no discernible patterns to winning hands. Your gut and luck must guide you with punto banco – but let’s talk about some choices players get to make in other baccarat variations.

More Baccarat Variations

Learning punto banco-style baccarat will more than prepare you for most casino table room situations. However, online casinos especially offer many different baccarat types for your playing enjoyment. For example, you might be drawn to trying Mini-Baccarat, which is basically punto banco but with lower table limits. This is a major draw for casual, low-stakes players and a common find in Asian gaming houses.

Super 6 and Punto 2000

There is a variation of Mini-Baccarat where the banker bet pays 1:1, rather than 19:20 as in punto banco. This can be called Super 6 or Punto 2000. The six in the name comes from the idea that when the banker hand wins with six points, the winning bettor(s) receive only 50% of the bet. The number six was chosen for this variation because it is fairly common for banker hands to win on a six. It typically happens five times in a shoe of eight card decks.

Two notable things about this style is that the house edge is higher here than with regular punto banco games. It is also played because it is a speedier game. Dealers do not have to spend as much time calculating commissions on winning banker bets, which reduces their time in between hands and means all can play faster.

EZ-baccarat

In EZ-baccarat, players will find much of the same playing style as in Punto 2000 and Super 6 baccarat. However, this variation has even more special rules on certain outcomes. First of all, 1:1 is paid on all banker and player bets, including on winning hands of six points.

However, when the banker wins with seven points after a third card, banker bets are returned as in a tie outcome. Players can also win big if a banker hand wins with seven points on the third card, resulting in a 40:1 payout. Similarly, winners will receive 25:1 payouts when the player hand wins with eight points on the third card.

Chemin De Fer

Though some may speak of Chemin De Fer as a separate game altogether, it is closely related to the baccarat we typically encounter in casinos. Gameplay is slightly more complex as rather than the dealer doing most of the work, the role of dealer rotates around the table of players; each one will have a turn. Furthermore, hands are delivered facedown so players are not aware of each other’s hands when they bet on who will win. It is also always played with exactly six decks of cards.

Players also have more options. Rather than simply choosing banker, player or tie, they can also choose to add a third card to their hand (to get closer to five, hopefully) or to stand, sticking with just the two initially dealt cards. All in all, Chemin De Fer baccarat gives players a chance to make more decisions, which may increase the excitement of gameplay and more similar mimic mechanics of blackjack in some ways.

Baccarat en Banque or Deux Tableaux

Baccarat en Banque, also known as Deux Tableaux, is a version similar to Chemin De Fer in that one of the players is designated as dealer. However, the role stays the same throughout the game rather than rotating around the table. The shoe is also only three decks, which means the game does not go on for as long until all decks are dealt. In this version, the banker and croupier sit in the middle, facing one another, while players are dividing on either side into the “two boards” or banks of the namesake.

The players can only bet on their sides of cards, while the banker can only bet on the banker hand. The banker remains in their position until the banker hand loses. In this version, players also have the chance to make certain decisions like standing or adding cards throughout the gameplay, making for a more complicated game overall.

Other Versions of Baccarat

Though the above has covered baccarat types thoroughly, there are still more versions cropping up now and then. Some of these are regional, like 3 Card Baccarat which is popular in Asia, or Macao – a precursor to baccarat – which is still played often in Russia. There is even Super Pan 9, which was created and is still played in California, and no commission baccarat.

While the variations feel seemingly endless, don’t worry about mastering all of them now. If you learn a few basics, you can absolutely start playing baccarat now – online or in-person – at your favorite casinos.