PH365 Punto Banco: How a Baccarat Hand Is Dealt, Drawn and Paid
Punto banco is the standard form of baccarat: two hands, Player (punto) and Banker (banco), are dealt by fixed rules, and you bet on which ends closer to 9, or on a tie.
- PH365 Baccarat Road
- A baccarat road is a scoreboard of past results.
- PH365 Blackjack Soft 17
- A soft 17 is a blackjack hand totalling 17 that includes an ace counted as 11, such as ace plus six.
- PH365 Single Zero Roulette
- Single zero roulette uses a wheel of 37 pockets: 1 to 36 plus one green 0.
- PH365 Stream Latency
- Stream latency is the delay between what happens at a live table and what you see.
Which hand will finish closer to 9: Player or Banker? That single question is all punto banco asks of you, and the dealer does the rest by fixed rules. This page sits under the live stream baccarat and table overview. The four rules below, taken from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s published baccarat rules saved on this site, settle every hand you will see at a live table.
Rule 1: count only the last digit
Cards 2 to 9 count at face value, tens and court cards count zero, and aces count one. A hand’s point count is the last digit of the total.
| Cards | Total | Point count |
|---|---|---|
| 7 + 6 | 13 | 3 |
| King + 9 | 9 | 9 |
| 5 + 5 | 10 | 0 |
| Ace + 7 | 8 | 8 |
Rule 2: a natural ends the hand
A natural is a point count of 8 or 9 on the first two cards. If either hand has one, no more cards are dealt to either hand.
- Player shows 4 + 5 = 9, a natural; Banker shows 3 + 2 = 5. No one draws, and Player wins.
- Player shows 6 + 2 = 8; Banker shows 9 + Queen = 9. Both are naturals, and the natural 9 wins.
- Both hands show a natural 8. The hand is a tie.
Rule 3: the third-card rules
If neither hand is a natural, the Player hand draws a third card on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7. The Banker hand then follows a table.
| Banker’s first two cards | Banker draws when Player’s third card is |
|---|---|
| 0, 1, 2 | always |
| 3 | anything except 8 |
| 4 | 2 to 7 |
| 5 | 4 to 7 |
| 6 | 6 or 7 |
| 7 | stands |
If the Player stood, the Banker draws on 5 or less. No hand ever takes more than one extra card.
Rule 4: payouts and the baccarat banker commission
| Bet | Pays | House edge, 8 decks (Wizard of Odds) |
|---|---|---|
| Player | 1 to 1 | 1.24% |
| Banker | 1 to 1, less 5% commission | 1.06% |
| Tie | at least 8 to 1 | 14.36% at 8 to 1 |
A ₱100 Banker win pays ₱95 after the 5% commission. The Tie looks generous at 8 to 1 and is the most expensive bet on the layout.
Mini baccarat and other live versions
Mini baccarat uses the same hand rules on a smaller, faster table. Evolution’s live pages describe further variants, including tables without a commission that change how a Banker win on certain totals is paid; read the payout panel on any table before you bet. Scoreboards are a separate topic: the baccarat road explainer shows why they record history and nothing more. If baccarat’s pace is not for you, the single zero roulette page covers a slower table with its own clear arithmetic.
FAQ
What is punto banco?
The usual baccarat played in casinos and at live tables. You bet on the Player hand, the Banker hand or a Tie, and the dealer follows fixed drawing rules.
Why does the banker bet pay a commission?
Because the drawing rules give the Banker hand a small advantage. The 5% commission brings its house edge to 1.06% on the Wizard of Odds figures for eight decks.
What is mini baccarat?
A smaller, faster table version of the same game with the same hand rules. The difference is pace and table size, not the maths.