Baccarat Online Casino
Online baccarat is a virtual version of the casino game Baccarat. The goal of the game is to wager on the hand you believe will get closer to 9. There are two hands to bet on; the Player and the Banker, and other side bets, which we discuss further down. You can play virtual baccarat or with a live dealer from your mobile device or computer.
Baccarat is a staple game at all good casinos, both online and land-based. You’ll find all versions of baccarat are easy to play and extremely enjoyable, with very little between them, however for. The problem with these strategies in Online Baccarat is that none of the bets have 50% odds, at best you’ll have 45% odds for your bet. Mobile Experience. Punters who like to play Online Baccarat on their mobile app will be happy to hear that Casino.com has optimized all games for both Android and iOS devices. A lot of sites tend to overlook baccarat bonuses, but we know there is a strong and dedicated following that love the game, and we set out to form the following table for the best baccarat bonuses. This table is sorted using the bonus amount, wagering requirement, and quality of casino, among other factors. You can now play baccarat online for free or try real money baccarat for exciting payouts. Bet on the Banker or Player to see who gets closest to 9. And with great side bets like Perfect Pair, you can have even more fun at our best online casinos. Aside from our free baccarat.
Baccarat has been a fixture in high-roller areas at brick-and-mortar casinos for decades. The attraction is a low-house edge compared with other games: close to 1% for one bet type. Now, you can enjoy baccarat online or live with our detailed guide.
Betting on baccarat is simple. On each hand, you’ll decide whether to back “player,” “banker” or “tie.” There are complex rules for how the two hands are dealt; though, when you play the game, the croupier handles this side of things. There are variations of baccarat which simplify the rules. The best known is called Punto Banco.
Online baccarat is available either against software or via live dealer casino rooms. However, you’ll need to be in a state that offers legal real money casinos to take advantage.
Our baccarat guide provides you with everything you need to understand the bets and rules. We look at how to play baccarat online, as well as the strategy for placing those all-important bets.
How to play online baccarat legally in the US?
Regulation for online gambling is expanding at a rapid pace. Many states have started with legal sportsbooks, and a handful of states offer or are in the processing of offering online casinos. Presently, these states are New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and West Virginia.
If you are in a legal state, you’ll be able to enjoy online baccarat and Punto Banco.
Baccarat Online No Download
First, there are computer software versions. These are fast, easy to play and start at surprisingly small stakes (or even for play-money while you learn the game).
At some online casino sites, you can find table games at live dealer studios. Casinos stream these games in real-time from their brick-and-mortar casinos. You can find live dealer casinos at the bigger online casinos, including Golden Nugget and 888 Casino, in regulated states.
Details of the online casino laws vary by state. Generally, you’ll need to be at least 21 years or older to play. There is no need to be a permanent resident of the legal gaming state, though you will need to be inside state lines where the casino is licensed to play.
Casino apps include the geolocation technology to verify that you are inside the state borders.
How online baccarat works
We describe a typical baccarat game in which a dealer handles the cards, with one or more players betting on the outcome. However, there are variations where the dealer position rotates around the table.
Before a hand is dealt, each player will place bets on one or more of the three outcomes. The choices are player, banker or tie. You can choose to bet on any of these outcomes (as a player, you are not forced to bet on the “player” option).
Here are the odds of winning based on those bets:
- Player: 1.24%
- Banker: 1.06%
- Tie: 14.36%
Note that the “tie” option has terrible odds compared with either the player or the banker bets. More on that in the side bets section below.
The dealer deals hands to both the player and banker. There are complex rules for whether more cards are added to each hand. You don’t need to memorize these to enjoy the game.
Baccarat drawing rules
The winning hand out of the player and banker is the one closest to (or at) 9 points.
Each hand is dealt two cards with the following rules:
- Non-picture cards are worth their point value.
- Tens through kings (all the picture cards) are worth zero.
- Aces are worth one.
If a hand goes over 10, then 10 points are removed.
For example, two 7s = 14, take the 10, and you have a score of 4.
- If either hand shows 8 or9 (also known as a “natural“), the hand ends and no extra cards are dealt.
Live Baccarat Online Casino
Any time there is no “natural” (8 or 9) on the two-card deal, then the following chart is examined, with more cards being dealt under the following criteria:
- The player stands on 6 or 7 and draws a third card with a score of zero to 5.
- If the player stood with a 6 or 7, then the banker draws a card with zero to 5 and stands with a 6 or 7.
Banker rules on 3rd card
When the player draws a third card, the rules for the banker become more complex:
- If the player total is zero, 1 or 2, then the banker will always draw a third card; otherwise, the rules depend on the banker’s current total.
- Banker Shows 3: Draws a third card unless the player’s third card was an 8.
- Banker Shows 4: Draws a third card when the player drew 2 through 7 as a third card.
- Banker Shows 5: Draws a third card when the player drew 4 through 7 as a third card.
- Banker Shows 6: Draws a third card when the player drew 6 or 7 only.
- Banker Shows 7: Always stands.
You don’t need to remember these rules to enjoy the game.
From a player’s perspective, you can enjoy online baccarat by merely deciding whether to bet on the player, banker or tie squares.
How to reduce the house edge in Baccarat
Baccarat is a favorite among high rollers because of the lower house edge. There are variations in payouts and details of the rules which make a difference.
The golden rule for baccarat is to avoid the tie bet. This does have a bigger return than either the banker or the player bet but comes with a horrific house edge. The tie bet can be more than 20% in some games and, typically, more than 14% (it depends on the return in each game).
If you contrast this with the player and banker bets, you’ll see how big the difference is. These wagers have a house edge of around 1%.
The standard rules give the following:
- Player: 1.24%
- Banker: 1.06%
Table minimums are often bigger for baccarat than other games. When you see the low house edge, you’ll understand why this needs to be the case.
Casinos balance the lower edge (and easy gameplay where the players can’t make strategy mistakes) with the cost of running the table. Some casinos will have side bets on the hands being pairs or pairs of the same suit. These do add an element of excitement and interest to the game.
These wagers also have a prohibitively large house edge, often upwards of 10%.
Different variations of baccarat
Some baccarat variations are more complex than the original game, involving strategy decisions by players who affect the outcome of hands.
Others are simplified, turning them into an entertaining and simple casino game.
Here are the main variations:
- Punto Banco: This is also known as American baccarat, though it is the single most popular variation around the world. In this format, the casino is the “house” (not each player in turn). This variation is played with a shoe of between six and eight decks.
- Mini Baccarat: This game is designed to work with a single casino dealer who performs all the handling of cards. The drawing rules are slightly different from the main game.
- Super 6 Baccarat: This is also known as Punto 2000. Banker bets are paid at 1-to-1 on all scores except 6, which is paid at 50%. It increases the house edge to 1.46% on banker bets.
- EZ Baccarat: This casino variation includes Dragon 7’and Panda 8 side bets. The banker will win on a total of 7 after the third card is drawn.
- Chemin De Fer: This is a multiplayer form of baccarat, where each player acts as the dealer in turn. This player acts as the banker, making decisions on whether to draw additional cards. All players share a single player hand in this format.
Live dealer baccarat games
Live dealer casino studios take advantage of better network speeds available these days.
You can bet on the outcome of a hand of baccarat dealt in real-time from a studio. These are available in those states with regulated online casinos. The studios are often inside the casinos, where experienced dealers can handle the cards.
To bet, you only need a funded account. You’ll drag and drop wagers using an overlay on the felt. With the dealing rules set, you won’t need to wait for others to make decisions (as you do when playing blackjack) or for the hand to play out to cover players who have bet when you have folded (as you do with live dealer casino poker games).
If the table minimums at live dealer online casinos are too big for your bankroll, you can always choose a software-based game instead.
These have the advantage that you will not miss a hand should you get distracted or disconnected, as well as those lower table minimums.
Baccarat history
There are different variations of the history of baccarat. Some historians suggest that the origins of the game go back to the 15th century when France and Italy were at war.
France has a history of inventing gambling games, with roulette appearing there in the 17th century, and poker having a predecessor game in the region, too. The original French name for this game is Chemin de Fer.
Punto Banco was the version that hit the new world. This was the house-banked game, rather than the player-versus-player variation, which started in Europe.
It first appeared in Las Vegas at the Sands Casino in the 1950s. This game has made appearances in James Bond movies. More recently, it moved online, where you can now enjoy it with a live dealer or as a software-based game.
Baccarat and US casino bonuses
Online casinos in legal jurisdictions offer a lot of various bonuses and promotions to attract and retain players. While you can certainly take advantage of them, baccarat is not the best game for bonus clearing.
The super-low house edge means that most casinos will either exclude it or give it a very low “weighting” for the purposes of clearing bonuses.
With no-deposit free play, matched welcome bonuses and other promotions, your best bet is often to take advantage of them using slots, then enjoy baccarat games with the money you win.
Final thoughts on playing baccarat for free or real money
While not in the same league as blackjack or roulette in terms of popularity, baccarat does have its fans.
You’ll find this game in the high-limit area of many casinos, as well as (in simple “mini bacc” form) on the casino floor.
The outcomes are a win for a fictional player or a banker or sometimes a tie. You can bet on whichever outcome you like. The house edge is low on either bet, though slightly lower for banker bets.
Tie bets have a huge house edge; experienced players avoid these. Some variations of the game also have side bets.
Contrasting with the simple outcomes, the rules for dealing are complex.
Unless a “natural” (8 or 9) is dealt, a table of rules that depend on what cards are showing is referenced.
Make sure you check out the new live dealer casino baccarat in states that regulate online gambling. It adds a social element — with a real dealer handling the cards — and lets you bet online.
So, you want to play baccarat for real money but don’t know where to start? Today might just be your lucky day, because you’ve landed on a page jammed full of great baccarat casinos that accept players from almost everywhere on the planet!
Feel free to play at any (or all) of the real money casinos listed on the table below. Each one has a welcome bonus for new players and lots of regular promotions to choose from.
Betting Site | Bonus | Bet Now | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 100% up to €250 | Go to Site | |
2 | Europa Casino | 200% up to €500 | Go to Site |
3 | 100% up to €400 | Go to Site | |
4 | Spinia | 100% up to €250 | Go to Site |
5 | 100% up to $1,000 | Go to Site |
Top Sites for Real Money Baccarat
Our casino review team has selected the best real money baccarat sites from among hundreds of potential candidates. You can disregard all of the other casinos online because we promise you these are the best gambling sites with baccarat games. You can learn more about why we know so below, or you can get down to business and check out these online baccarat sites for yourself.
How We Choose These Baccarat Online Casinos
We make some big claims on this site, one of which is that these are the best real money baccarat sites you’ll find online. Even if you spend 30+ hours researching them like we did, you won’t find better baccarat casinos to play at.
We know that extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and we’re happy to provide it. We’ll explain how we know these are the top real money baccarat sites below. We also invite you to read any of our casino reviews to see how in-depth and detailed they are.
Safety and Security
Since playing baccarat for real money involves financial transactions, safety and security should always be your top priority as a player. The last thing you want is to have your card details or identity stolen by hackers or rogue online casinos with baccarat.
That won’t happen if you stick with our safe real money online casinos. We delve into the past of the operators running them, check if they have valid online casino licenses, and make sure that existing players rate the casino highly. You’ll find all of this information in our real money baccarat sites reviews.
User Interface
Whether you’re visiting baccarat online casino sites on your mobile phone, desktop device, or tablet, you want to be sure that you’ll have a pleasant user experience while you are playing online baccarat. We visit plenty of real money baccarat online casinos to make sure the games load quickly, the options are well-organized, and the casino works well on both mobile and desktop devices.
Speaking of mobile devices, we also test every baccarat casino on at least one of those. When we can, we like to visit the casinos and online baccarat apps using an Android and an iOS device. That could be an iPad, an iPhone, or an Android phone. This gives us total insight into the user experience across all devices.
Casino Game Selection
Unlike real money roulette, blackjack, and poker, there aren’t a lot of different baccarat variants. You’ll find Punto Banco, Mini-Baccarat, and a few live dealer games like Speed Baccarat or Lightning Baccarat, but that’s about it. Don’t get us wrong, some of these games are awesome, but there aren’t as many options as other casino games typically offer.
We make sure that you’ll have access to at least one digital baccarat game, and at least one live baccarat game for real money. We test the games for quality by playing them ourselves. We prefer to see games from top-level software companies like NetEnt, Microgaming, Rival, RTG, Evolution Gaming, and Visionary iGaming.
Real Money Gambling Options
We don’t like to state the obvious, but you can’t win real money playing baccarat unless you risk it. To do so, you’ll need to make a deposit. Our review team makes sure there are plenty of ways to do so, including credit cards, debit cards, Neourf, Bitcoin, and e-wallets like PayPal, Skrill, and Neteller.
Aside from the ways to make deposits and withdrawals, we also make sure the real money baccarat casino pays your winnings within a reasonable timeframe and that they don’t rip you off with excessive withdrawal fees.
Bonuses and Promotions
Perhaps a few of the welcome bonuses listed on the table above have already grabbed your attention. We know they grabbed ours when we visited the casinos. Yet, the size of the baccarat bonuses isn’t the only thing that matters. They’ve got to be fair before they make our approved list.
We read the fine print of every bonus and promotion. Our casino experts know exactly where to look in the pages of legal jargon to find the key bonus information. We always summarize the important terms and conditions in our baccarat casino reviews. We’ll never recommend a casino bonus that isn’t both fair and player-friendly.
How to Play Online Baccarat
Playing baccarat online for real money is easy. This is one of the simplest card games in the world. All you have to do is place a bet, and the dealer takes care of the rest! Baccarat involves zero skill or strategy.
- First, find where to play baccarat online and make an account. Visiting our real money baccarat sites on the table above is a good place to start. This will take approximately two minutes of your time.
- Make a deposit using your chosen payment method. Make sure to claim your real money baccarat bonus.
- Choose a real money online baccarat game from the list of options. This might be a digital game, or it might be a live dealer baccarat game. The choice is yours.
- When the game loads, it’s time to make your first bet. If you’re playing live baccarat for real money, you need to place your bet before the timer runs out and the dealer starts the hand. In digital games, you click a “deal” button when you’ve made your wager.
- Your baccarat betting options include player, banker, or tie. Player and banker bets pay even money (1:1), while tie bets pay 8:1 or 9:1 depending on the casino. Most casinos take a 5% commission on banker bets.
- When you’re done betting, the hand will begin. The dealer will deal four cards face up, that’s two for the player and two for the banker. There are some rules as to what happens next, but the hand with the total closest to nine wins.
Bets are settled instantly, and a new round of betting begins within a few seconds. Whether you win or lose, your balance will be updated automatically.
Baccarat Rules
It’s not necessary to understand what the rules of baccarat are to play but it will definitely help you win. The dealer handles everything after you’ve placed your wager. However, it’s good to understand what’s going on, so we’ve created this quick list of baccarat rules to enhance your understanding.
- When the cards dealt are worth a total greater than nine, you add them together and drop the first digit. For example, two nines add up to 18. Drop the one for a total of eight.
- If either the player or the banker gets eight or nine from the dealer, both stand.
- The player will get another card if their initial hand is worth five or less.
- The banker gets another card if their hand is worth five or less, but only if the player stands.
- Some real money baccarat games also have side bets. You can make these for extra payouts, and the outcome of the main game does not affect them or vice versa. You could win the main game and lose the side bet or win the side bet and lose the main game.
Why Play Baccarat for Real Money?
There are a few solid reasons to play baccarat for real money online. Let us talk you through the main ones.
Baccarat Is Simple and Fun
As we mentioned before, baccarat is one of the simplest card games in the casino. All you have to do is decide what outcome to bet on. You can win money playing online baccarat without even understanding the rules. And if you don’t pay attention to the side bet that some games offer, there are only three outcomes to bet on. It’s fun, fast-paced, and anyone can learn to play in no time at all.
You Get to Play With Professional Dealers
You can play baccarat against a computer program, or you can choose to play with professional live dealers from around the world. Every single one is skilled at dealing baccarat games, and they’re available for you to interact with through live chat. If you play live baccarat for real money, you get to play with real-life, human dealers, not bots.
There Are Some Cool New Variants
When we said that baccarat doesn’t have as many variants as other casino games, we meant that as a relative metric. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any cool baccarat variants. You can play Lighting Baccarat from Evolution Gaming for a shot at up to 500k per hand, or Speed Baccarat from the same provider for double the action in the same amount of time.
Baccarat Offers Lucrative Side Bets
Some people don’t know this, but many real money baccarat games offer lucrative side bets. You may be able to place wagers on pair side bets for payouts of up to 200:1 for Perfect Pairs.
Baccarat Online Casinos Wrap Up
Playing real money baccarat online is a great option. You can have fun, win sizable payouts, and claim plenty of generous welcome bonuses to get you started. Baccarat is simple, and players of any experience level can enjoy it. The only question left is, which real money baccarat site will you play at first?