Baccarat Odds & Payouts

Baccarat has three main bet types, each with its own payout rate and house edge. This page covers payout rates, house edge figures, RTP, and side bets. All figures apply to standard punto banco. Actual rates may vary slightly by game provider. 

The three main bets and what they pay. 

Each of the three bets has a different payout structure and house edge. Here is what each one means.

The Tie Bet

The Tie bet wins if both hands finish with the same total. It pays 8:1 at most tables. A winning $10 bet returns $80 at that rate. Some variants pay 9:1 instead. Tie outcomes occur significantly less often than Player or Banker wins. The house edge is approximately 14.4% at 8:1 and approximately 4.8% at 9:1, making it the highest of the three main bets in both cases. 

The Player Bet

The Player bet wins if the Player hand has the higher total. It pays 1:1. A winning bet of $10 returns $10 profit. No commission is deducted. The house edge on the Player bet is approximately 1.24%.

The Banker Bet

The Banker bet wins if the Banker hand has the higher total. It pays 0.95:1 after a commission of typically 5% is deducted from winning bets. Commission exists because the Banker hand wins slightly more often than the Player hand due to how the drawing rules are structured. Despite the commission, the Banker bet still has the lowest house edge of the three main bets at approximately 1.06%. Some game providers offer no-commission variants with an adjusted payout structure.

The house edge is the statistical advantage the casino holds on each bet. It represents the percentage of each bet the casino expects to retain over time, averaged across a very large number of hands. 

A house edge of ~1.06% on the Banker bet means the casino expects to retain approximately $1.06 for every $100 wagered on that bet over the long run. It does not mean a player loses that amount on every hand. Individual hand outcomes vary significantly in the short term. 

Baccarat has one of the lowest house edges of any casino table game across its two main bets. 

The Banker hand wins slightly more often than the Player hand. This is a built-in feature of how the third card drawing rules work: the Banker draws after the Player's result is known, which creates a small statistical advantage. 

To account for this, the casino applies a commission of typically 5% to winning Banker bets. Even after that commission, the Banker bet still carries the lowest house edge of the three main options. This is a structural feature of the game's design, not a strategy or guarantee of results.

RTP stands for Return to Player. It is the theoretical percentage of total wagers returned to players over a very large number of hands. It is the inverse of the house edge. 

An RTP of ~98.94% on the Banker bet means that, theoretically, $98.94 of every $100 wagered is returned to players over time. Like house edge, RTP is a long-run mathematical figure. It does not predict what any player will win or lose in a single session. 

Some baccarat games offer side bets: optional wagers placed in addition to the three main bets before the deal begins. Side bets typically offer higher payouts than the main bets but carry significantly higher house edges. They vary considerably between game providers and are not available on all baccarat games. 

The figures below are illustrative examples only. 

Side bet payouts and availability vary by game provider and variant. Always check the specific game's paytable before placing side bets. 

All three main bets in a single reference. 

The figures above describe the structural differences between the three bets. A few factual observations on what those differences mean in practice. 

The Banker bet has the lowest house edge at approximately 1.06%. This is a mathematical feature of the game's design. Some players bet on Banker consistently for this reason; others prefer the Player bet because it pays the same rate with no commission deducted. 

The Tie bet offers the highest payout but occurs least often and carries a significantly higher house edge than either of the other two. Side bets carry higher house edges still. 

All bets in baccarat carry an inherent house edge. No bet eliminates it.