Real Money Baccarat

Baccarat, also known as Punto Banco, is a shockingly simple yet fun fixture of any casino floor. Though the origin is somewhat disputed, the popular card game is said to have been created in France in the 19th century. Those that don’t agree with this date suggest that the form of gambling was actually invented in Italy and brought back to France by soldiers returning home from a war in the 15th century.

Regardless of when it was made, baccarat is an excellent choice for any prospective bettor for two reasons. First, despite having an incredibly simple ruleset, there’s still enough engagement to keep players interested and having fun. Second, baccarat has one of the lowest house edges of all casino games, with a bet on the banker reducing the advantage to roughly one percent.

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While the game often conjures up images of suit-clad high-rollers, martinis in hand, gambling like James Bond, the casino classic is every bit as available to online players gaming at home in their pajamas. You just need to know where to find it. If you’re searching for the best real money baccarat online, look no further than the list of recommendations located directly above.

In this article, we’re going to explain why our recommended sites are the smartest choice when playing baccarat online. We will also teach you how to play and what kind of probabilities and betting odds you’re dealing with when you do so. For a game that intimidates many people before they learn the rules, you may be surprised how well baccarat balances simplicity with entertainment.

Why These Sites Are the Best

At LegitGamblingSites.com, our list of recommendations and site rankings aren’t just haphazardly thrown together; a lot of work goes into them. Our team of experts is continuously combing through the newest online casinos, vetting and reviewing them to see if they’re worthy to pass along to our readers.

The entire process takes numerous variables into account, dealing with everything from avoiding scams to maximizing customer satisfaction. While we won’t bore you with all of the many qualities we demand from an online casino here, we will highlight some of the top priorities we search for.

Legitimacy

The amount of money wagered on online gambling sites in 2018 is expected to be roughly $60 billion. With massive sums of cash changing hands, it’s to be expected that scammers and thieves all over the world would be working their hardest to steal as much as possible for themselves. There are so many fraudulent websites out there that it can be challenging for novice gamblers to find a quality location they can trust.

The primary goal of LegitGamblingSites.com is to provide our readers with safe, reliable, and legitimate gambling sites without all the hassle of trial and error. Our number-one priority is ensuring that any betting operation that we recommend is 100% on the up-and-up. That’s why we’ve identified the top locations for any form of wagering you’re interested in, so you’re never left to guess whether a site is safe or not on your own.

Banking Options

Another quality we consider in our expert rankings is the number of banking options provided by an online casino or sportsbook. The truth is, people from all over the world are looking for the best real money baccarat online. Between the numerous jurisdictions and varying laws, different methods of payment are going to be more compatible with different regions.

Ideally, our highest-ranked recommendations will accept several different options, including credit cards, checking account transfers, Bitcoin, and various e-wallets. This way, almost anyone around the globe will have some way to successfully fund their online casino account and get around any restrictions that may be enforced.

However, you should know that there are times when specializing in a single transaction type is advantageous as well. Those sites are often able to offer faster-than-average processing timelines due to only focusing on one form of payment. To accommodate these situations, we also provide lists of recommendations for individual banking methods on our site.

Customer Service

Anytime your hard-earned money is involved, you expect responsive and helpful customer service, should you need it; at least, you should expect that. There are few things more annoying than waiting on hold, having your emails ignored, and generally not being able to get issues resolved promptly. We take customer service extremely seriously and consider it an essential ingredient in any website worthy of being called one of the “best.”

Our experts study a casino’s history and reputation with customers in the past, examine the website to ensure there’s an easy-to-find area to receive help and make sure there are actively monitored forms of contact. The casinos our experts identify as having the best real money baccarat online almost always offer several methods of communication, including telephone, email, and instant messaging.

If helpdesk responsiveness is a significant concern for you, we often advise readers to test a site you may potentially use before signing up. You may want to send an email to see how quickly you receive a response or call the phone number provided to verify that it works and that you can get a person on the phone whenever needed. This way, you can proceed with that website with confidence that you’ll be covered should any issues arise.

How to Play Real Money Baccarat Online

All right, enough about where to find the best real money baccarat online. Let’s get into the game itself. Baccarat is a game of comparisons, with a player and banker competing for each hand. The object is to bet on whichever side’s cards will have a value closest to 9. It can be played with either a single deck, six decks, or an eight-deck boot, with each variation having a slightly different house advantage.

This is how the game is played:

  • Each bettor sitting at the table will place their wager on either the player, the banker or a tie
  • The dealer then deals two cards for the player’s hand and two for the banker’s. All four cards will be face up and are delivered to the table, not to the individuals gambling
  • Number cards from 2 through 9 are all worth the point value of the cards themselves. 10s and face cards are worth zero
  • The two cards are added together. If the sum of the cards is more than 9, you drop the first digit, receiving only the points for that second digit. For example, if the player is dealt a 6 and a 7, which equals 13, the one is dropped, and that hand is worth 3
  • After the dealer has laid out the cards and calculated the point totals if either hand is worth an 8 or 9, both sides must stand. This is called a “natural”
  • If the player’s hand is worth five or less, a third card will be drawn for them
  • If they have a six or seven, the player stands. What happens next depends on the banker’s total
  • With the player standing at 6 or 7, if the banker has five or less, they’ll draw a third card
  • Anytime the player receives a third card, the banker’s decision depends on specific drawing rules:
    • If the player drew a 2 or 3, the banker draws if the hand is worth 0 to 4 and stands with 5 through 7
    • If the player drew a 4 or 5, the banker draws if the hand is worth 0 to 5 and stands with 6 or 7
    • If the player drew a 6 or 7, the banker draws if the hand is worth 0 to 6 and stands with 7
    • If the player drew an 8, the banker draws with a 0 to 2 and stands with a 3 through 7
    • If the player drew an ace, the banker draws if the hand is worth 0 to 3 and stands with 4 through 7
  • The total scores are then compared, and the closest score to 9 wins. If the two hands tie, the bets made on the player and banker push, while wagers placed on the tie pay out 8 to 1
  • If you back the player, and their hand wins, the payout is even money, one-to-one
  • If you bet on the banker, and their hand wins, the payout is 19 to 20 or 95%. You’re essentially just paying a 5% commission for backing the side with the advantage of going second when deciding on a third card. A bet on the banker has only a 1.06% house edge, making it one of the most gambler-friendly wagers in all of casino table games

Baccarat Odds and Strategy

At any baccarat table, you’ll always find a scorecard which the gamblers around the table will use to keep track of each hand and which side won. While you can certainly do whatever you’d like with your time, this isn’t recommended due to the gambler’s fallacy. People keep track of the results mistakenly thinking they’ll see trends that tell them when one side or the other is “due” for a win. However, each hand is its own singular event unaffected by the games before or after it; the probabilities stay the same even if the player wins 35 times in a row.

Of all the wagers in baccarat, the least favorable for the bettor is to bet the tie. Paid out at 8 to 1 odds, the house advantage when using the standard eight decks is 14.36%. Compared to the 1.06% for betting the banker and 1.24% edge when backing the player, the tie bet is a horrible deal!

While it may not be the most thrilling strategy, the smartest approach is to wager on the banker every single time. Thanks to the positional advantage of deciding whether or not to draw a third card after the player’s turn is complete, the banker is always the better bet. Even with the 5% commission, it’s still smarter to take the gamble with the lowest house advantage possible.

Legality of Real Money Baccarat Online

Depending on your location, the availability of the best real money baccarat sites online may vary. Online gambling is still a relatively young industry, and many countries haven’t completely ironed out how they regulate the activities as compared to brick-and-mortar casinos. From region to region, and often state to state, how local jurisdictions treat online casino gambling changes, making things confusing for individual gamblers.

That’s why we’ve gone ahead and done all the research for you. Just find the page for the jurisdiction you’re interested in, and we’ll show you the status online gambling has in the country, which activities are legal or illegal, any relevant laws to be aware of, the regulatory bodies responsible for the area, and whether or not you can access offshore sites without fear of persecution or punishment.

To read more about the legalities of baccarat and online casinos in general, follow this link:

Online Gambling Laws

Other Real Money Casino Games

While baccarat might offer the best odds of anything in the casino, we understand you want a little variety. Once you’re ready to branch out, our experts have compiled lists of our recommended top online gambling sites for each individual game. This way, no matter what you’re in the mood to play, you’ll have the perfect place to do so.

If you’d like to read more about real money gaming, including our detailed gambling guides, general casino knowledge, understanding odds, and bankroll management, check out our hub page for all things involving betting real cash over the internet.

Maybe you’ve already got your sights set on your next game and want to jump straight to that page. Click any of the links below to find similar breakdowns for just about any wagering activity you’re liable to encounter in an online casino. We’ll teach you how to play, calculate the betting odds, and share any optimal strategies when applicable so that you’re always in the best position to win while in the best places to gamble on the entire web!

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Jim Beviglia
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About Jim Beviglia
Jim Beviglia has been a gambling writer at LegitGamblingSites.com since 2018. During that time, he’s written just about every type of article related to gambling, including reviews of betting sites, guides to popular casino games, betting tips on both casino and sports betting, sports and casino blog posts, and game picks. In addition to online gambling, one of Jim’s other major interests is music. He has been doing freelance work for various music sites and magazines for two decades. Among his outlets past and present are American Songwriter, VinylMePlease, Treble, and The Bluegrass Situation. Jim has also written five books on music that were published by Rowman & Littlefield.