RulesThe drawing chart, total by total
Baccarat Rules Explained: the Third Card Rule and Full Drawing Chart
The choices are few, the baccarat rules are fixed and the mathematics of the shoe dictate your costs before you place a chip. Here the rules of baccarat are explained in the order a round runs, from the natural to the third card rule and the cut card.
Baccarat rules explained in one paragraph
The sole objective of the game is to predict which of two hands will finish with a point total closest to nine.
The two hands are named Player and Banker, though you are free to bet on either side regardless of your seat at the table. Tens and all face cards carry a value of zero, aces are worth one and all other numbered cards retain their pip value. If a starting total reaches ten or more, you simply drop the first digit, meaning a seven and an eight make a total of five rather than fifteen. You place your chips on a betting area, the dealer distributes the cards face up on the felt and the baccarat game rules dictate every subsequent step. The dealer resolves the totals and pays the winners.
You might wonder why a game with no player agency remains so popular in card rooms across the country. The appeal lies in the low cost of participating. As long as you stick to the primary bets, the casino takes a very small mathematical margin. Every round starts with two cards dealt to the Player and two cards dealt to the Banker. From there, the totals are calculated and the dealer consults a set of drawing rules. Understanding the rules of baccarat gives you no power to change the outcome, but it tells you exactly what you are paying for when you sit down. The beginners' version, with a hand dealt out step by step, is on our how to play baccarat page.
Naturals: when the hand stops at two cards
The simplest rounds are the ones that end immediately after the initial deal. When the first two cards dealt to either the Player or the Banker total eight or nine, the hand is called a natural.
If a natural appears on the felt, the round is over. If one side has a natural and the other does not, the natural wins at once with no third card for either side, even if the other side would normally draw. If the Player shows a nine and the Banker shows an eight, the Player wins the coup. If both sides show the identical natural total, the hand is declared a tie. Your stakes on the Player or Banker bets are returned to you untouched.
This rule supersedes every other step in the drawing sequence. It acts as a hard stop to the action. Newcomers sometimes ask the dealer for a third card when their side shows a total of two against a natural eight. The dealer just silently sweeps the chips away. The game does not care. A natural shuts the door. You accept the loss and wait for the next hand to begin.
The Player's third card rule
When neither side reveals a natural eight or nine, the game progresses to the draw, and the Player hand always acts first.
The rule governing the Player side is simple and depends on the sum of the first two cards. If the Player hand has a total of zero, one, two, three, four or five, the dealer gives the Player a third card. If the Player hand has a starting total of six or seven, the hand stands and receives nothing further.
That is the entirety of the baccarat game rules for the Player side. There are no deviations based on intuition, no exceptions based on previous outcomes and no moments where you get to tap the table for a hit. You simply watch the dealer do the basic arithmetic. If you placed your chip on the Player betting area, your active involvement ended the moment betting closed. People who spend hours searching for patterns on their scorecards miss this. The cards arrive when the rules dictate they must.
The Banker's drawing chart, total by total
The baccarat rules for the Banker are more complex because the Banker acts second and reacts to what the Player hand just did.
If the Player stood on a six or seven, the Banker ignores the chart and follows the same simple rule as the Player, drawing on zero to five and standing on six or seven. If the Player did draw a third card, the Banker total and that third card decide the next step. Explained total by total, the schedule runs like this.
When the Banker starts with a total of zero, one or two, the Banker always draws a third card, regardless of what the Player just pulled. When the Banker has a total of three, the Banker draws a third card unless the Player drew an eight as their third card. When the Banker has a total of four, the Banker draws a third card only if the Player drew a two, three, four, five, six or seven. When the Banker has a total of five, the Banker draws only if the Player drew a four, five, six or seven. When the Banker has a total of six, the Banker draws only if the Player drew a six or a seven. When the Banker has a total of seven, the Banker stands.
The dealer dealt a three of clubs and a two of spades to the Player side, followed by a pair of queens for the Banker, and within five seconds the Player received a four to make nine while the Banker drew an eight to lose. Banker on zero draws whatever Player took. That is the chart at work. Step through a dealt round to see each rule applied in order.
The effect of the asymmetric rule is that the Banker wins slightly more often, taking 45.86 per cent of hands against 44.62 per cent for the Player over eight decks. Over thousands of hands, Banker results drift around what the mathematical edge predicts, nothing more. You cannot beat a structure that dictates every single card dealt.
| Banker total | Player stood | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw |
| 1 | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw |
| 2 | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw |
| 3 | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Stand | Draw |
| 4 | Draw | Stand | Stand | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Stand | Stand |
| 5 | Draw | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand | Draw | Draw | Draw | Draw | Stand | Stand |
| 6 | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand | Draw | Draw | Stand | Stand |
| 7 | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand | Stand |
Columns after the first two give the Player's third card. A Banker total of 8 or 9 is a natural and never draws. Standard punto banco tableau, applied by the dealer or the software.
Payouts, commission and ties
Winning a bet on the Player side pays even money, which means a ten pound wager returns a ten pound profit.
Winning a wager on the Banker side also pays even money, but it comes attached to a condition. Because the drawing rules slightly favour the Banker side, which wins 45.86 per cent of hands against the Player's 44.62 per cent over eight decks, the house takes a five per cent commission on all winning Banker bets to secure its profit margin. This deduction defines traditional commission baccarat.
You gladly pay this fee because backing the Banker remains the cheapest of the bets on the baccarat table. The house edge on the Banker bet sits at 1.06 per cent, which translates to an average cost of £1.06 per £100 staked. The Player bet carries a slightly higher house edge of 1.24 per cent, costing you £1.24 per £100 staked.
Then there is the Tie bet. On a tie, the Player and Banker bets are returned to you as a push, and the Tie bet is paid. The usual version pays eight to one, and the edge here is 14.36 per cent, over fourteen pounds for every £100 you put down. Where a table offers a nine to one Tie, the house edge is 4.84 per cent. You ignore the Tie bet completely.
| Bet | Pays | House edge | Cost per £100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banker | 1:1 less 5% | 1.06% | £1.06 |
| Player | 1:1 | 1.24% | £1.24 |
| Tie | 8:1 | 14.36% | £14.36 |
| Tie, where offered | 9:1 | 4.84% | £4.84 |
| Banker, no commission | 1:1, a six pays 1:2 | 1.46% | £1.46 |
Own exact calculation over all card orders of an eight-deck shoe. Change decks and payouts in the house edge calculator.
No-commission rules and how they change the payout
Under no-commission baccarat rules, winning Banker bets pay even money with no commission, except a Banker win on a total of six, which pays one half to one.
If you load up a game of no-commission baccarat online, you will notice the rounds process quickly. If you bet ten pounds and the Banker wins with a seven, you win a full ten pounds. If the Banker wins with a six, you receive only five pounds in profit.
This single rule modification changes the underlying maths. The house edge on the Banker bet rises to 1.46 per cent. It now costs you £1.46 per £100 staked, making it more expensive than the Player bet. While the arithmetic is easier to follow on screen and the payouts feel cleaner, the traditional commission version remains cheaper to play. That halved payout on a winning Banker six is exactly what turns the cheaper bet into the dearer one. Other versions of the game are on our baccarat variants page.
The shoe, the burn and the cut card
Baccarat is dealt from a clear plastic box known as a shoe. Most shoes hold eight standard decks of playing cards shuffled together, though six-deck shoes also exist.
Before the first hand of a newly prepared shoe is dealt out to the table, the dealer performs a procedure called the burn. The dealer removes the first card from the shoe and turns it over to reveal its face value. If that card happens to be a seven, the dealer pulls seven additional cards and places them straight into the discard tray face down. If a ten, jack, queen or king is turned as the burn card, it counts as ten, so ten cards are burned. This ritual does nothing to alter your odds, but it remains a standard physical procedure at every live table.
Towards the back of the shoe, you will eventually see a solid plastic card, usually bright red or yellow. This is the cut card. When the dealer draws the cut card during a hand, that hand is finished, and then one more hand is dealt. Only after that final hand is settled is the depleted shoe swapped for a freshly shuffled one. The game requires no decisions, so information about the remaining cards gives you little to act on; our card counting page puts numbers on that.
Questions about the baccarat rules
Does Banker always draw on 5?
No. If Player stood, Banker draws on 5; if Player drew, Banker on 5 draws only when Player's third card was 4, 5, 6 or 7.
What is the third card rule in baccarat?
A fixed schedule for extra cards. Player draws on 0 to 5; Banker draws according to its own total and Player's third card, as in the chart above.
Can the player choose to draw a third card?
No, you have no say at the table. The rules dictate when a third card is drawn, leaving you with no decisions to make after placing a bet.
What is a natural in baccarat?
A two-card total of eight or nine. It ends the hand at once and wins unless the other side has an equal or higher natural.
How much commission is taken on a Banker win?
Five per cent. The drawing rules slightly favour the Banker, so the house takes a cut to keep its edge.
What happens to my bet if the hand is a tie?
Player and Banker bets are returned. A tie is a push for the main bets, while the Tie bet is paid.
Is no-commission baccarat cheaper?
No, the Banker edge rises to 1.46 per cent. A winning Banker six pays only half, increasing your long-term cost.
How many decks are in a baccarat shoe?
Usually eight, though six are also used. The deck count moves the Banker and Player edges only slightly: one deck gives Banker 1.01 and Player 1.29 per cent.