Baccarat basic strategy explained (Banker, Player, and the 5% commission)
Last updated: 2026-07-29 · Written by Priya Nair
Baccarat has one of the shortest strategy guides of any casino game because there are only three bets on the table — Banker, Player, and Tie — and no decisions to make once you've placed one. The cards deal themselves according to fixed drawing rules. All the actual strategy in baccarat is choosing which of the three bets to make, and one is a clear best pick.
How a hand actually resolves
You bet on which hand will finish closer to 9 — the Banker's hand, the Player's hand, or a Tie between them. Cards are dealt to both hands automatically under fixed rules (a third card is drawn or not based on the total, not player choice), and the outcome is simply whichever hand's total ends closer to 9. There's no skill in the play itself — the entire game comes down to which of the three bets you back before the cards are dealt.
Why the Banker bet wins even with a 5% commission
The Banker bet pays even money but the house takes a 5% commission on Banker wins — win a $100 Banker bet and you collect $95, not $100. Despite that fee, Banker carries a house edge of just 1.06%, the lowest of the three bets. The reason: the Banker hand wins slightly more often than the Player hand (about 45.9% of hands versus about 44.6%) because of how the fixed drawing rules favour it, and that edge in win frequency more than makes up for the commission. Without the 5% fee, Banker would actually carry a small edge in the bettor's favour — the commission is specifically what converts it back to a house edge, just a smaller one than Player's.
The Player bet: simpler, slightly worse
The Player bet pays even money with no commission at all — what you see is what you get. Its house edge is 1.24%, a little higher than Banker's despite paying full odds, because the Banker hand's structural advantage in the drawing rules outweighs the cost of the commission. It's still a solid bet, just not quite as good as Banker on the maths.
The Tie bet: the one to skip
Tie pays 8:1 and looks tempting because of the big number, but it carries a house edge of roughly 14.36% — more than ten times worse than either Banker or Player. Ties happen in only about 9.5% of hands, and the payout doesn't come close to compensating for how rare the outcome actually is. Tie is consistently the worst bet on the baccarat table by a wide margin; skip it regardless of how the shoe has been running.
FAQ
- Should I bet Banker or Player in baccarat? Banker, on the maths. Even after the 5% commission on Banker wins, its house edge (1.06%) is lower than Player's (1.24%), because the Banker hand wins slightly more often under baccarat's fixed drawing rules.
- Why does baccarat charge a commission on Banker bets? Because the Banker hand has a built-in structural advantage from the fixed drawing rules — without a fee, it would actually favour the bettor slightly. The 5% commission converts that edge back into a small house advantage, just a smaller one than the Player bet carries.
- Is the Tie bet ever worth it in baccarat? No, not on the math. Despite the attractive 8:1 payout, the Tie bet carries a house edge of roughly 14.36% — by far the worst bet on the table, since ties only occur in about 9.5% of hands.
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