What is Live Baccarat?
Live baccarat is a real-time game of baccarat that’s played with a real-life dealer. The game gets streamed and broadcast in actual time to all players who have decided to take part in it. You can play live baccarat games at online casinos on various devices, including desktop computers, smartphones and tablets.
The live version of this game follows all the usual rules of the standard table game. If you’re used to playing animated games at online casinos or even baccarat games at land-based casinos, you should have no problems getting used to live dealer versions of the game.
How Do You Play Baccarat?
Baccarat is a pretty simple game to get to grips with, and live baccarat is just as easy to play as the game’s rules remain the same. It’s a card comparison game played with six to eight standard decks of cards.
As a player, you’re betting on which of two hands, the dealer’s or the players gets closest to 9 in value. When determining the value of the hands, number cards are worth their face value, 10s and face cards are worth 0, and the ace is worth 1. If the value of a hand is a two-digit number, you remove the leftmost digit to get the hand’s actual value. For example, if you have a pair of sixes, this would typically be 12, but you would take the one away to get left with a value of 2. The highest possible value of a hand is 9.
Once all bets have been placed, both dealer and player get dealt two cards. For example, if either hand has a total of 8 or 9 and the other has a value of 7 or less, the hand worth 8 or 9 will win – this is called a natural hand.
More cards will get drawn if neither of the two hands is natural. In most versions of baccarat, there are no player decisions; instead, both hands get dealt with according to a set of rules. The game focuses on the player’s hand first. If the player’s hand is worth 0-5, it receives an additional card; if it’s worth 6 or 7, that hand will stand (i.e. gets no more cards).
If the player stands with two cards, the dealer’s hand follows the same rules: the dealer draws an additional card if their hand’s worth 0-5 and stands on 6-7. However, if the player’s hand receives a third card, the dealer then acts according to a set of rules:
- If the dealer’s hand is worth two or less, a third card is drawn
- If the dealer’s hand is worth 3, a third card is drawn unless the player’s third card is an 8
- If the dealer’s hand is worth 4, a third card is drawn so long as the player’s third card is 2-7
- If the dealer’s hand is worth 5, a third card is drawn so long as the player’s third card is 4-7
- If the dealer’s hand is worth 6, a third card is drawn so long as the player’s third card is 6 or 7
- If the dealer’s hand is worth 7, the dealer stands
There are three possible outcomes to a baccarat game: the player’s hand wins, the dealer’s hand wins, or the game results in a tie. You can bet on any one of these outcomes. There are also some optional side bets you can place, including the perfect pair bet (which pays out if a hand consists of a pair of the same rank and suit) and the small and big bets (small bets pay out if the game has four cards dealt; big bets pay out if the game has five or six cards dealt in total).
Live Casino Functionalities
Live Chat
One of the best things about playing live dealer games is that they’re much more social and interactive than typical online casino games. For example, with live games, there’s a text-based chat feature you can use to communicate with the other players taking part in the game and the dealer.
So rather than just staring at a screen and playing the game as you would with animated games, with live dealer games, you can communicate with others and make the gaming experience much more enjoyable.
Mobile Compatibility of Live Baccarat
Live baccarat games are available on a wide range of mobile devices. In addition, lots of the very best mobile casinos and casino apps have live versions of baccarat available to play.
