The aim of the game is to get a hand totaling as close to nine as possible without going over. All tens, jacks, queens and kings have a value of zero; aces have a value of one and all other cards have their face value. Any hand that has a value of over ten has the ten disregarded, so for example at total of 12 counts for 2 in the game. The best possible hand is a natural which has a total value of eight or nine.

The game begins with the dealer dealing two cards to the player and two cards to the banker. It’s worth noting that the player is not you it is a square on the table and only one player hand is dealt regardless of how many bettors are at the table. In the big baccarat game the player who has made the highest bet is dealt the player hand but again this is uses for all other players.

At this point the hands are compared. If either the player or the banker has a hand total of 8 or nine the hand ends with the winning bets paid off. In the case of an 8 versus a 9 the nine wins. If neither the player nor the banker has a natural hand then the draw of the third card comes into play. This draw is done according to the rules and cannot be decided by the player.

The player hand is always drawn first with the following rules. If the hand total is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 the player must draw an additional card. If the hand is 6 or 7 the player stands. The banker drawing rules are determined by the players hand and are decided as follows.

The banker draws if the banker hand is totals three and the player hand totals 0 to 7. If the banker hand totals four then another card is dealt if the players hand is zero or 2 through 7. If the banker has a hand with a total of five then an additional card is dealt when the player has 4, 5, 6 or seven. Finally if the dealer has six and other card is dealt if the player has six or seven.

It is possible to get a much worse hand than the initial hand after the third card is dealt. This can sometimes be annoying especially if your choice is ahead but this is just part of the game.