Once you have learned the basic and simple rules of baccarat, they will be easy to remember and you will feel comfortable sitting at any baccarat table or mini baccarat table in a casino or at your computer playing online.

If this is the first time you are learning the simple baccarat rules, you are advised to download a free software package from one of the many online casinos on the Internet and play along. Many online casinos offer unlimited free play. Some of these sites include a selection of online casino packages and a few tutorial style baccarat programs.

It is definitely easier to learn, and easier to teach, by simply downloading a game from a real casino which offers free play, and reading along while playing with the software. Tutorial style software available for baccarat is often overcomplicated and tends to leave the learner feeling more confused than ever.

The goal of the game and of your two-card hand is to attain a total that is as close to 9 as possible. The cards count as follows:
Tens and face cards count as zero, with the exception of the ace, which is worth 1.
Cards 2 through 9 are counted at their face value.

So you can see how simple the scoring is. There is really only one tricky part: you cannot ‘bust’ or ‘go bust’ as in blackjack. When your initial card count is over nine, meaning ten or over, the first digit of the total is dropped.

Say you are dealt a pair of sixes – your total is 12, but the 1 is dropped and your actual count is 2. An eight and a six would give you a score of 4. A ten and a four would give you a score of four.  

If the first two cards of a hand total 8 or 9 the hand is declared a 'natural' and wins, unless there is a tie between two naturals. If either hand is a natural, both hands stand and the natural hand wins. A natural 9 beats a natural 8.

If the total is not a natural win on either hand, another card is dealt to each hand to determine the winner. Winning banker hands are usually taxed 5% by the casinos. Remember, anybody can be the banker, not necessarily a casino employee. This hint is enough to gain an advantage in baccarat, because you know if the casinos take a cut of just one hand, that one hand probably has a good chance of winning.

Two cards are dealt to both the player and the banker. If you bet on the winning hand, you win even money. Even money bets are 1 to 1, meaning if you bet ten dollars, you're paid back the ten plus ten more, making your profit equal to your bet.

If you bet on a tie between the hands and it happens, you will be paid 8 to 1, meaning that if you bet ten dollars on a tie and won, you will be paid back your ten, plus 80 dollars more.

Here is an interesting bit of information: even with the 5% cut taken from the winnings on a banker hand bet, there is still an advantage to betting on the banker. The advantage is slim, about 0.18%, but in the world of gambling that's not so small.

There aren't many rules to the game of baccarat, and the few rules that do exist are simple. They may be different from other games you may have played at the casino, and they will take a little getting used to.

From reading this page you should now have picked up enough information to play a game. It is always a good idea to try it online for free first. We are sure that within minutes you'll feel comfortable enough to play anywhere.