Baccarat Made Simple: Punto Banco, Player and Banker

Baccarat looks intimidating and is actually the simplest table game in the casino. There is one decision to make and three ways to make it.

The single decision

In Punto Banco baccarat – the version found in virtually every online lobby – you choose one of three bets: Player, Banker or Tie. You do not draw cards, you do not make strategic choices, and the dealer follows a fixed drawing table that is printed on the felt. Your only job is to pick a side.

Two hands are dealt, one to Player and one to Banker. Each begins with two cards and the total is read by dropping the tens digit – so a 7 and a 9 counts as 6. The hand closest to nine wins.

Why the Banker bet is not the favourite

Despite the name, betting Banker does not mean betting on the house. It means betting on the second hand dealt. Banker wins slightly more often than Player because of a rule in the drawing table that gives it a small structural advantage.

The casino compensates by charging a 5% commission on Banker wins, which leaves a house edge of 1.06% – the lowest of the three main bets. Player carries 1.24% and Tie carries 14.36%, which is why experienced players treat Tie as entertainment rather than strategy.

Reading the scoreboard

Most baccarat tables display a scoreboard recording previous results as beads, big roads, big eye roads and cockroach roads. These are records of the past, nothing more. Because each shoe is shuffled from independent draws, a streak of Banker results does not make a Player result more likely.

Players use the roads to decide when to bet and how much, which adds structure to a session. They do not change the maths.

Frequently asked questions