There are three main betting options in Live Baccarat, and you can bet on your hand, the dealer’s hand, or a tie. The object of the game is bet on the hand you think will get as close to 9 points without going over.
The card values are calculated differently in baccarat than most other card games. Any 10 or picture card is worth 0 points while cards 2-9 are worth the points on the card. However, there are no point values of more than 9. If you add the two cards together and their value equals 10 or higher, remove the first digit to get the baccarat point total. For example, if you have a 7 and an 8 card, instead of 15 points, you’ll have 5 points.
In addition to the main bets, there are four side bet options that you can also wager on.
- Pairs: Bet on either hand being a dealt two cards with the same number
- Big: A big hand is where there is a total of 5 or 6 cards dealt
- Small: If there are no additional cards dealt
- Egalite Extra: Not only are you betting on a tie but on what the tie will be.
You can see the results of the side bets for the entire 8-deck shoe under the betting table.
Once the bet is placed, there are no more decisions to make. Whether a third card is dealt t the dealer or player is based purely on the cards on the table. For the player, the procedure is simple, if the point total is between 0-5 a third card is dealt. The dealer’s hand is a bit more complicated, check out the table below for the rules.
Points for First Two Card | 3rd Card Dealt if Player has: | No 3rd card if Player has: |
3 | 0-7, 9 | 8 |
4 | 2 – 7 | 0, 1, 8, 9 |
5 | 4-7 | 0, 1, 2, 3, 8, 9 |
6 | 6,7 | 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9 |
7, 8, or 9 | Never | Never |