Play baccarat online with friends

What is baccarat?

Baccarat has been played in European casinos since the 1800s. The version most casinos deal today, often called punto banco, is the one Ping44 plays. Two hands are dealt, one called Player and one called Banker, and neither belongs to anyone at the table. Whether a hand takes a third card is decided by fixed rules, so the only choice you make is where to put your chips.

That makes it a relaxed game for a group. There's nothing to learn before the first round, every deal is a little drama, and half the fun is seeing who backed the Banker, who stuck with Player and who went for the long-shot Tie.

How to play baccarat

Aces count 1, cards 2 to 9 count their number, and 10s, Jacks, Queens and Kings count 0. A hand's total is only its last digit: a 7 and an 8 make 15, which counts as 5.

1. The betting window opens. Pick Player, Banker or Tie and choose your stake: type any whole number of chips you have, or tap a quick pick (the host's default bet, 10%, 20% or 50% of your chips, or all in).
2. You can change your bet until the cards are dealt, or press Fold to sit the round out.
3. The cards are dealt as soon as everyone has bet or folded, or when the window closes. Anyone who hasn't bet by then sits that round out.
4. Player and Banker each get two cards.
5. If either hand totals 8 or 9, that's a natural and nobody draws.
6. Otherwise the table follows the third-card rules below, automatically.
7. The higher total wins. Equal totals are a tie.

The third-card rules

The Player hand goes first:

• Player draws a third card on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7.

If the Player hand stood, the Banker hand draws on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7. If the Player hand drew, the Banker hand's move depends on its total and on the value of the Player's third card:

• Banker 0, 1 or 2: always draws.
• Banker 3: draws unless the Player's third card is an 8.
• Banker 4: draws if the Player's third card is 2 to 7.
• Banker 5: draws if it's 4 to 7.
• Banker 6: draws if it's 6 or 7.
• Banker 7: stands.

Payouts

• Player pays 1:1: a 100-chip bet wins 100.
• Banker pays 0.95:1, rounded down to whole chips: a 100-chip bet wins 95.
• Tie pays 8:1: a 100-chip bet wins 800.
• When the hands tie, Player and Banker bets push: your stake comes back.

Baccarat settings on Ping44

The host sets up the table in the lobby:

• Show bet selections: off by default, so bets stay private while betting is open. Everyone sees that you've placed a bet, not which side or how much, and your chip count looks the same as before you bet, so nobody can work it out. All bets are revealed with the result. Turn it on to show everyone's bets as they're placed.
• Starting chips: anywhere from 100 to 50,000. The default is 1,000.
• Default bet: 50, 100, 200 or 500 chips. The default is 100.
• Betting window: 10, 15, 20, 30 or 45 seconds. The default is 20.
• Game length: unlimited, or 5, 10 or 20 rounds.
• No timer for first round: the first betting window waits for every bet or fold, handy for teaching newcomers.
• Auto-start next round: the next round opens 30 seconds after the results. The host can pause the countdown, or turn it off and start each round with Next round.

Baccarat needs at least two connected players. If you run out of chips, you sit out the next round and then come back with the starting chips. If everyone runs out, everyone is topped back up.

Scoring on Ping44

The server settles every bet and adds what it won or lost to your room score:

• A winning bet: plus its winnings (your stake, 95% of it on Banker, or eight times it on a Tie).
• A push: nothing changes.
• A losing bet: minus your stake.
• Fold or no bet: nothing changes.

Each winning bet counts as a win in your stats. Room scores add up across every game you play in the room, including blackjack and Hi-Lo.

Tips and strategy

• Banker wins a little more often. Its drawing rules give it a small edge over Player, which is why its winnings are trimmed to 95%. Even so, over many rounds it's the best-value bet.
• Bet Banker in multiples of 20. Banker winnings are rounded down, so 20, 40 or 100 come out exact, while a 10-chip bet wins only 9.
• Treat the Tie as a long shot. It pays 8:1 because it comes up only about one round in ten.
• The last result doesn't matter. Every round uses a freshly shuffled deck, so a run of Banker wins says nothing about the next deal.
• Size your bets to your chips. A steady stake keeps you in the game longer than throwing half your stack on one deal.
• Play with bets hidden. With Show bet selections off, everyone decides alone, which keeps the reveal more fun.

How to start a game of baccarat on Ping44

1. Go to ping44.com, sign in (free, with email or Google) and create a room.
2. Share the invite link, the room code or the QR code. Friends can join as guests by just picking a name.
3. In the lobby, choose Card, then Baccarat in Game settings.
4. Set the starting chips, default bet, betting window and game length, and choose whether bets are shown.
5. Start the game once at least two players are in.

Why play baccarat on Ping44

• Big tables. Up to 100 people can bet on the same deal.
• Fair dealing. The server shuffles a fresh deck every round with a cryptographically secure random source and draws every card by the rules.
• Private bets by default, revealed together with the result.
• No real money. Chips are virtual, have no cash value and can't be bought.
• Voice and text chat in the room.
• More casino games in the same room. Switch to blackjack, poker, Hi-Lo or any of the other card games without leaving.
• Free, with no ads, in the browser, with nothing to install.

Frequently asked questions