Live Baccarat – The Complete Guide

Bring the thrill of a live casino right to your home by playing live baccarat online. Instead of going to the casino to play against the dealer, the dealer is brought right to you so you can enjoy the best of both the land-based and online casino experience.

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Online Baccarat vs. Live Baccarat

When you play online baccarat this may feel more like playing a very exciting video or computer game. However, when you play live baccarat you will receive live streaming directly from the casino where you can play against a real-life dealer in real-time, just like you would in the land-based casino. You still select the bets you want to place from the options on your screen like in regular online baccarat, but you are playing directly against a live dealer who is dealing the cards live from the casino for you. This would be a great opportunity to try baccarat card counting to turn the odds in your favor. 

What is Live Baccarat?

When you play live dealer baccarat you are playing against a real-life dealer in a casino, but viewing them in real-time on your computer screen. Instead of playing with the computer software, a real-life dealer will shuffle and deal the cards and proceed with the third card rule – just from the comfort of your home, or wherever you want to be.

Why Play Live Baccarat?

You no longer have to dress up, travel, or even leave your house at all to get the excitement and ambience of the live casino. You also don’t have to bother with getting to the casino at all, as you will be able to play live baccarat from your living room, sitting in your comfy house clothes if you feel like it.

Although playing online baccarat is 100% safe and trustworthy, there are still some cynics out there who are wary against betting against a computer as they don’t believe it is completely random. If you fall into this category, then playing live baccarat is for you as you get to watch the dealer both shuffle and turn over the cards. And the most popular reason some gamblers naturally gravitate towards the live casino dealer is that they want to feel like they are in a casino and not playing a computer game, watching real cards being turned instead of digital cards, and they have the human element of playing with a live dealer.

Live Baccarat

The Advantages of Playing Live Dealer Baccarat

• You can play against a live dealer without leaving your home;
• Untrustworthy online gamblers can feel safe as they watch the cards being shuffled and turned by a dealer;
• You can play at whatever time;
• You can emulate the live casino experience by interacting with the dealer and other players live from the casino;
• Play with real cards instead of digital cards;
• House edge doesn’t change between online baccarat and live dealer baccarat.

How to Play Live Baccarat

First thing you have to know is that the user interface is extremely similar to what you will find in a regular online baccarat casino game – you will be able to place your bets from clicking on the options that you will see on your screen. Just like when you play Baccarat in a land-based casino and the online version, you place your bet on one of three options: the player, banker, or a tie. You can check with the casino what the minimum and maximum allowed bets are, but the minimum bets are typically slightly higher than regular online baccarat due to video production costs, and the fact that there is an employed dealer in the mix.

There are a set number of players at the table that will also be playing live. You can interact with other players through the chat function and feel a sense of community when you play, which is perhaps restricted when you play regular online baccarat.

Instead of having digital cards, the live dealer will shuffle the cards and give two cards to both the player and the banker. The dealer will deal a third card according to the third card rule which you can learn about below. The game aims to get the closest to nine points with the sum of the cards. The live dealer will call out the points and proceed with the pre-determined third card rule if necessary. If you win your online casino account will be credited, and you will have to withdraw the funds from the online casino you are playing live baccarat at through your preferred payment method.

If you want to get a feel for the live baccarat version before you play there are videos available as samples for you to see what the set-up of the game looks and feels like, as you may like playing regular online baccarat better if you don’t like the vibe and look of the live casino.

Live Dealer Baccarat Rules

At the start of each game, the dealer will shuffle the cards and deal two cards for both the banker and the player from the shoe (see baccarat terms). The aim of the game is for the two cards to get to as close to a total of nine points as possible.

Live dealer baccarat is extraordinarily simple; you only have to choose one of three bets. On the player interface online pick either to place your bets for the banker or the player to achieve the closest to nine points, or for a tie between the two to occur.

To calculate the number of points, you have to just remember that cards 2-9 have their face value, whilst a 10 or face card is worth 0, and an Ace is worth 1 point. So if you are given a 7 and a 10, the total points you will have will be 7 as the 10 is worth nothing.

Whether or not the player and banker will receive a third card is pre-determined by a set of rules outlined below, and will be dealt by the dealer. After the third card rules are applied, whoever has a hand closest to 9 will win, and if you placed your bet on that hand you win the bet.

Player’s Third Card Rule

The following rules determine when the player draws a third card:

• If either the player or the banker has a total of 8 or 9 points with the first two cards, then no third card is drawn. This is called a natural.
• If the player total is 5 or less than five, the dealer will draw the player a third card.
• If the player has 6 points or more, no third card is drawn. In this case, the banker’s hand will stand.

Bankers Third Card Rule

The following rules determine when the banker draws a third card:

• The banker will always draw a third card if the total of their first two cards is two or less, regardless of the total of the player’s hand.
• If the points total to 3, the Banker draws a third card unless the player’s third card was an 8.
• The banker will draw a third card if their points total 4 unless the player’s third card is a 0, 1, 8 or 9.
• The banker will draw a third card if their points total 5 and the player’s third card is a 4, 5, 6 or 7.
• The banker will draw a third card if their points total 6 unless the player’s third card is a 6 or a 7.
• The banker stands if the total of the first two cards is a 7.

Live Dealer Baccarat FAQs

Play at the Best Live Baccarat Online Casinos!

Here at CasinoTop10, we have featured the very best online casinos that have the absolute highest quality of live baccarat found on the internet. All you have to do is browse through the casinos featured in our toplist, perhaps view some sample videos to help you make up your mind about which online casino you prefer, and step right into the land-based casino from your own home.