Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be James Bond or a secret agent to enjoy the rush of playing baccarat. Live dealer baccarat is just like the game enjoyed at hundreds of bricks-and-mortar casinos around the world, but is also an interactive online experience unlike any other.
This online guide will introduce you to the basics of baccarat and why it continues to gain followers as a complement to the original game.
To keep things simple, here are the basics of how to play live dealer baccarat.
At the start of each hand, you have three betting choices:
After bets are placed, the banker gives the player and banker two cards each. Hand scores are determined by adding up the value of each card. Tens and face cards are worth zero (0), aces are worth one point and all other cards are worth their rank. So, a 6 of spades is worth six points. The goal is to finish with a score as close to nine as possible. However, the value of a hand can’t exceed nine points and only the last digit in a score counts. So, if a player or bank hand totals 14 points, it’s only worth four points. The highest possible total is nine points and lowest is zero (re: 10s, face cards).
While both the player and banker are dealt two cards, there are several baccarat rules where a third card is dealt:
Note: Similar to blackjack, the baccarat shoe contains six to eight standard playing card decks.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be James Bond or a secret agent to enjoy the rush of playing baccarat. As the popular and very simple table game found in many casinos and VIP lounges continues to gain in popularity online, a new-age version of baccarat has embraced live video streaming technologies.
Live dealer baccarat is like the game you play in a brick-and-mortar casino, but just online. You are placed at a virtual baccarat table, but unlike other online baccarat casino rooms, the flashy graphics and random number generators are replaced by a real-life baccarat banker and table and enjoyed via live video stream. Thanks to this live video stream, you can interact with the dealer and fellow players just as if you were at a real casino, sitting at your favorite baccarat table like 007.
Just in the past few years, advances in mobile technologies allow for live dealer casino games, like baccarat, to be mobile-friendly. However, if you’re interested in playing you are out, do everything possible to connect your mobile casino to Wi-Fi. This will improve your internet connection to the table and you won’t kill your data.
The objective is to successfully bet on one of three outcomes: you believe the player will have the best score, you believe the banker will have the best score or you believe the player’s and banker’s scores will tie.
It is an interactive online variation of the popular brick-and-mortar casino game. You are seated at a virtual table online, but thanks to video streaming advances, players see a real-life baccarat dealer in real time. The best part is the online chat function that allows you to interact with the live dealer and fellow baccarat players the entire time.
The average payout percentage for baccarat is around 98%, giving the player fairly decent odds against the house. This puts the house edge around 2%. The bets with the highest odds of winning are on the banker, followed by the player. Bets on a tie are much less likely to win, although the payout is significantly higher.
Live dealer baccarat is perfect for those sceptical of online random number generator casino games. Because of the live video feed, you get to see exactly what’s happening as the cards are dealt in real time. This reassurance in fairness and safety is why the game continues to gain popularity.
While there are options to play online casino baccarat for free, there is no free version of live dealer baccarat because the games are always played with real money. Once you get some practice and learn how baccarat is played, live dealer baccarat is the perfect way to get in on the action.