LIVE BACCARAT

How long are you going to keep hearing about live baccarat without finding out how to play it?

Well, now that you're reading this exemplary HotSlots guide, perhaps the time has come! In this post, we're going to tell you all you need to know about this simple game. We'll show you how to play live baccarat and what you need to keep in mind when the action unfolds on that bean-shaped table. Take a short break from hunting that progressive jackpot and come try your luck at live baccarat! Online baccarat rules apply here, so there's no need to relearn everything if you know the basics.

HOW TO PLAY LIVE BACCARAT

Do you need to know how to play baccarat before trying to play live baccarat? Well, unless you're in the mood to make your live dealer quit their job and storm out of the room, it's worth grasping the mechanics of this casino classic.

Don't worry, baccarat is a very simple game since it revolves around an equally simple concept. If you've already played baccarat in a land-based casino, you'll notice that there's barely a difference between standard baccarat and online, live baccarat.

MECHANICS OF BACCARAT

Your only task at a baccarat table is to place a bet. Do you see those three sections on the table, titled 'Tie', 'Banker' and 'Player'? Grab your chips and place a bet on whichever outcome you think the cards will favour. It's important to keep in mind that baccarat doesn't feature a Player versus Banker scenario. The Player and the Banker are simply bet types, as is the Tie.

Who decides who wins? Well, here's where the dealer comes into play.

THE DEALER'S DEAL

Once the betting time is over, the dealer distributes two cards to both the Player and the Banker from eight decks of cards. Whoever's card values fall closer to nine wins the round. Cards two through nine carry their face value, while tens, jacks, queens and kings have a value of zero. An ace is worth one. If card total goes over 10, the last digit acts as the hand value.

For example, a card of five and seven will amount to two — the last digit of their actual total of 12.

Let's say that the Player's hand consists of a four and a three, bringing their total to seven. On the other hand, the cards dealt to the Banker are two fours, bringing its total to eight. In this case, the Banker wins the round, since the Banker's total is closer to nine than the Player's total.

THIRD CARD RULE

Does it all sound too basic?

Well, there are more elements to baccarat's gameplay than what we've covered so far. Have you ever seen dealers add another card to a hand? That's because the hand values determine whether you will stand or not, meaning that if the Player's hand value sits between zero and five, a third card will be drawn. If the Player's hand is a total of eight or nine, no additional card will be drawn since that's called a natural.

So when does the Banker draw a third card? There are very specific rules as to when this happens — none of which are rules that you should try to memorise since the dealer takes care of this. In any case, a cursory look at these rules will show you that the Banker will be drawn an extra card depending on the Banker’s initial two-card hand and the Player's third card. If the Banker's hand total is six, for example, another card will be drawn when the Player's third card is a six or a seven; otherwise, the Banker will stand.

If you really want to know the exact situations in which dealers deal a third hand, keep an eye on the Banker's total and see if the dealer draws any additional cards.

BETS IN ONLINE, LIVE BACCARAT

If you compare baccarat to roulette, you might think that betting options in baccarat are quite limited. You wouldn't be wrong, but this doesn't mean that there isn't any fun to be had!

As we mentioned above, in baccarat you'll be able to place a bet on either of the three outcomes. What we didn't mention, is that a bet on the Banker will net you better odds than a bet on the Player. In fact, the house edge is lowest on Banker bets, owing to the many limitations the Banker has to draw the third card.

SIDE BETS

Apart from the usual three bets, you could also place side bets in baccarat.

Side bets have the best odds, although the chances of their outcomes happening are quite slim. If you really want to shake things up and hope for a great payout, you should indeed try a side bet. Keep in mind that side bets might vary between different live baccarat games and casinos.

Here's a list of all the bets — including side bets — you can place at most live baccarat tables.

Player bet, where the Player wins the round.
Banker bet, where the Banker wins the round.
Tie bets are placed with the hopes that both the Player and the Banker hand carry the same value.
The Player Pair (P Pair) hopes that the Player's cards are a pair.
The Banker Pair (B Pair) hopes that the Banker's cards are a pair.
Either Pair, where either the Player or the Banker has a pair.
Perfect Pair, where either the Player or the Banker has a pair of the same value and suit. If both sides have perfect pairs, you can expect some insane bonuses!
The Dragon Bonus — further subdivided into P Bonus and B Bonus — hopes that four points will separate the Player's hand from the Banker's hand, or vice versa. This bet is paid if either hand beats the other by four points or more with a natural eight or nine.

If you think that luck is on your side and you're fancying a higher payout than normal, go for a side bet!

OTHER LIVE BACCARAT GAMES

After nailing down the basics of baccarat, you'd be itching to try the real deal, you know, playing baccarat at a real table in front of a real dealer. If you're the stay-at-home type who wants their casino experience delivered to them, listen up.

WHO SAYS NO TO CASINO ON THE GO?

One might ask, what's the difference between baccarat played at a real casino and live baccarat played at an online casino?

The fantastic thing about Live Casino is that it brings all your favourite table games to your screen as opposed to having to dress up and make your way to a real casino just for a bet or two. Playing live baccarat games at a Live Casino can now be done on a multitude of platforms, including mobile devices. Simply load up your live baccarat game, wait for your betting time and fire a bet! It's then up to the live dealer to handle player bets and deal the cards.

CHOOSING A VARIANT — LIVE BACCARAT TABLES

Now, you've got a decision to make. Which baccarat game should you play? The best way to find out is by going over some live baccarat variants and having a look at how they differ. Don't worry, unlike other live casino games, baccarat variants don't vary that much from the classic version. This means that you won't have to relearn complex game mechanics but instead, simply practise for a while and unleash those side bets!

DRAGON TIGER

If you can't spare the ten seconds that a game round of classic baccarat lasts, you'll want to try Dragon Tiger. This baccarat variant is both simpler and quicker — perfect for those who want to speed up their live gaming experience.

In Dragon Tiger, the dealer only draws one card for each entity. Whichever entity has the highest card value wins the round. Instead of the Player and the Banker, here you'll find the Dragon and the Tiger. You can bet on either of those ferocious creatures, but you can also place a Tie bet or try your luck with a Suited Tie wager.

The most significant difference between Dragon Tiger and classic baccarat is the card values. Since no second cards are dealt, the value of one card must surpass the other to win the round. Aces have the lowest value, while Kings are the highest-value cards. For example, if the Dragon is dealt a five and the Tiger is dealt a jack, the Tiger wins.

GOLDEN WEALTH BACCARAT

If you want to play live baccarat with a slight twist, you'll want to try this Evolution masterpiece. The gameplay of Golden Wealth Baccarat doesn't take place on the same table as other live baccarat games. Instead, it unfolds on an elegant, red table with golden props looming in the background. The difference isn't strictly aesthetic, however.

First off, a 20% card fee will be taken from each player's bet. In return, five Golden Cards will be included in each game round. These cards carry randomly generated multipliers ranging from 2x to 8x, and each one will be displayed clearly on the betting grid. If you win with a hand that includes any of the Golden Cards, your wins will get multiplied!

Bets in Golden Wealth Baccarat work exactly the same as live baccarat, save for the 20% fee we mentioned. The minimum bet is €/$0.10 while the maximum is €/$1,000.

BACCARAT SQUEEZE

Your live baccarat experience wouldn't be complete without live Baccarat Squeeze! The game mechanics of this baccarat variant don't differ from classic baccarat at all. In fact, the only difference lies in how the cards are dealt. The dealer first deals two cards to the Banker, then does the same to the Player, but all the cards remain face down.

After all the cards have been dealt, the dealer starts slowly turning them face up. At this point, tension starts building up as your eyes lock onto the remaining face-down cards. When it comes to the last card, the dealer begins squeezing the cards from different angles in order to only give players a hint of what they might be. Once the card has been squeezed from all sides, the dealer finally turns it face up.

To continue adding to the spectacle, Evolution has mounted several cameras in their live dealer studio as a way of giving you more angles to watch the action from.

BACCARAT CONTROL SQUEEZE

Do you want to do the squeezing? In Baccarat Control Squeeze, you'll be in charge of revealing the cards. You can do that because the dealer places both Player and Banker cards on a designated area of the table where sensors are installed. All the tables of Baccarat Control Squeeze have this feature, since it allows players to squeeze and reveal the cards as they please.

SPEED BACCARAT

Did the slow-paced Baccarat Squeeze make you want to travel to Riga and flip over Evolution's live baccarat tables? If you're not the most patient live casino player in the world, you should play live Speed Baccarat.

As opposed to Baccarat Squeeze, Speed Baccarat prioritises speed over anticipation. All the cards are dealt face up from the get-go. This way, rounds only take a handful of seconds to complete and you'll be free to place your next bets almost immediately.

In Speed Baccarat, you might think that your dealer has the attention span of a squirrel since they might not engage with your thought-provoking comments for very long. Do keep in mind, though, that this baccarat variant is one of the fastest live dealer games you can play. We'd challenge you to keep a conversation flowing while dealing at Speed Baccarat tables, but we wouldn't want you to flip our office tables.

PLAYING LIVE BACCARAT AT HOTSLOTS

Have a look at HotSlots' Live Casino lobby and you'll notice its impeccable calibre. If you really want to play some live games at a serious online casino, you'll quickly learn how HotSlot will perfectly complement your gameplay. Join our family of online players through our fantastic Welcome Bonus!

WHY HOTSLOTS?

At HotSlot, you'll find all the live dealer baccarat variants we mentioned, as well as other online baccarat games.

If you can't play baccarat live any longer after wiping the tables clean with wins, you can check out other live games such as roulette, poker and blackjack. This isn't to mention our vast collection of top-notch slot games from the best gaming providers in the industry.

Long story short, at HotSlot, you'll never run out of casino games to play, so why wait around? Let us show you how to put your energy into wins!

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