ExplainerOne round, eight steps

How a Baccarat Round Is Dealt: the Third-Card Rule, Step by Step

Once the bets are down, baccarat leaves nobody a decision to make. This explainer deals one real hand from a shuffled eight-deck shoe, follows every rule that touches it, and then checks the long-run results against the exact odds.

By the editorChecked 6 November 2026

One round, dealt out

Arrow keys step through · Space starts and pauses

Step 1 of 8

The deal

Four cards leave the shoe in a fixed order: Player, Banker, Player, Banker.

Every round starts the same way. The dealer slides four cards out of the shoe and lays them face up, alternating between the two hands: the first to Player, the second to Banker, the third to Player and the fourth to Banker. Player and Banker are only the names of the two hands. Nobody at the table owns either, and nobody chooses which card goes where.

Step 2 of 8

Card values

Ace counts 1, tens and pictures count 0, the rest their face value. Only the last digit stays.

Each card is worth a fixed number of points. An ace is 1, the cards two to nine keep their face value, and the ten, jack, queen and king are all worth nothing. Suits make no difference. When the cards add up to ten or more, only the last digit counts, so a seven and an eight make 15 and the hand is worth 5. No total can be higher than 9.

Step 3 of 8

Naturals

A natural 8 or 9 on either hand ends the round. Nobody draws.

Before any third card, the dealer checks both totals. If either hand has 8 or 9 on its first two cards, that is a natural and the round is over at once: neither hand takes another card, and the higher total wins. This is a different hand from the same shoe, since the first one shown had no natural. Two naturals of the same value are a tie.

Step 4 of 8

Player's third card

Player draws a third card on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7.

With no natural on the table, Player's hand moves first, and it follows one line with no exceptions. On a total of 0 to 5 it takes a third card; on 6 or 7 it stands. The person who backed Player makes no decision here. The third card is laid sideways so anyone watching can see it arrived after the first four.

Step 5 of 8

Banker, when Player stood

If Player stood, Banker follows the same line: draw on 0 to 5, stand on 6 or 7.

Banker's rule depends on what Player did. When Player stood on 6 or 7, Banker uses the same simple line: it draws on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7. The hand shown, again from the same shoe, is that case: Player stood, Banker held a low total and took one more card before the totals were compared.

Step 6 of 8

Banker, when Player drew

If Player drew, Banker reads the chart: its own total against Player's third card.

When Player has drawn, Banker's decision uses two numbers: its own two-card total and the value of Player's third card. On 0 to 2 Banker always draws. On 3 it draws unless that card is an 8. On 4 it draws against 2 to 7, on 5 against 4 to 7, on 6 against 6 or 7, and on 7 it stands. The full chart is set out below.

The Banker chart in full

Rows are Banker's total on its first two cards. Columns are the value of Player's third card, with a last column for the rounds where Player stood. A total of 8 or 9 never reaches this chart, because it is a natural.

Draw = Banker takes a third card. Generated from the same rule the explainer above runs.
Banker	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Player stood
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	Stand	Draw	Draw
4	Stand	Stand	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Stand	Stand	Draw
5	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Draw	Draw	Draw	Draw	Stand	Stand	Draw
6	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Draw	Draw	Stand	Stand	Stand
7	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand	Stand

Step 7 of 8

Settling the round

Higher total wins. Banker pays 1 to 1 less 5%, a Tie 8 to 1.

Once the drawing rule has run its course, the hand closer to 9 wins. A winning Player bet is paid at 1 to 1. A winning Banker bet is also paid at 1 to 1, minus a 5% commission on the win, because Banker's later turn gives it a slight edge. A Tie pays 8 to 1, and Player and Banker bets are returned when the hands tie.

Step 8 of 8

Checked against the exact odds

Across 50,000 shuffled shoes, Banker wins 45.86%, Player 44.62%, Tie 9.52%.

The same rules, run over and over, produce fixed long-run shares. This page deals 50,000 shuffled eight-deck shoes, burn cards and cut card included, and counts every hand. Beside each simulated share sits the exact figure, found by working through every possible card order of a fresh shoe. They agree within the margin a sample this large allows. No staking pattern changes these shares.

How the figures on this page were made

The hands shown above are real deals, not drawings: one shoe of 416 cards is shuffled with a fixed seed, a card is turned and that many burned, and the hands are dealt in order. The first hand without a natural where Banker needs the chart is used for the main story; the first natural and the first hand where Player stands supply the other two steps.

For the long-run shares, the same code shuffles and deals 50,000 eight-deck shoes to the cut card, 4,064,079 hands in all, about 81 per shoe. The exact figures come from working through every possible order of cards from a fresh shoe. A simulation this size should land within three standard errors of the exact share; it does for all three outcomes. A table that pays 9 to 1 on a Tie changes what that bet returns, not how often it lands. The rules here are the standard punto banco rules used at UK tables; a variant with other rules gives other shares.

Gap and three standard errors in percentage points.
Outcome	Simulated	Exact	Gap	3 standard errors
Banker wins	45.85%	45.86%	0.014	0.074
Player wins	44.64%	44.62%	0.019	0.074
Tie	9.51%	9.52%	0.004	0.044