This is called a “natural.”īut when that doesn’t happen, sometimes Player or Banker needs to take a card. A simple chart is used to show when the player hand or banker hand takes a third card, which never happens when either the Player or the Banker is an 8 or 9 after the first two cards. The only complication is when each side will take a third card. Dealt a 9 and a 7? You have 16, so your score is 6. You have a face card and an 8? You don’t have 18, you have 8. The winning hand is the one with a score where the final digit when all the pips (the dots on a playing card that are clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades) are added up is the closest to nine.įace cards are worth zero, and aces count as one. The goal in baccarat is to have the hand you’re betting on, either the player or the banker, be the best hand of the two dealt.
Bond does tend to end up with it so often.
Nine is the best possible hand, and can’t lose. The rules are a touch different depending on if you’re playing the “punto banco” (where the actions are pre-determined by the numbers on the cards) or “chemin de fer” (where the players involved can decide to take a third card) form of baccarat, but the principle is the same: Bet on a hand, Player or Banker, that has the highest value after all the cards are dealt.
