Baccarat glossary
Every term the course uses, in plain English.
Open the glossary in baccaratton — free, play money
- Baccarat (hand)
A total of 0, the worst hand, such as two picture cards. The game takes its name from it.
Lesson: Counting a hand: only the last digit
See also: Total
- Banker
The other hand dealt every round, and the bet that it wins. The casino is not the Banker. The Banker acts last, after the Player, which is why it wins slightly more often and pays a commission.
Lesson: Welcome to baccarat
See also: Player, Commission
- Bankroll
The money you set aside to gamble with. In the app it is the stack the simulator plays from.
Lesson: Swings, sessions and bankroll
- Bead Plate
A scoreboard with one bead per hand, in order: B (Banker), P (Player) or T (Tie). Red is Banker and blue is Player, but the letter is always there.
Lesson: Scoreboards, streaks and the gambler's fallacy
See also: Big Road, Gambler's fallacy
- Betting system
A rule for changing your bet size after wins or losses, such as Martingale or Paroli. No system changes the house edge on each bet: it only changes how much you bet, and so how much you lose on average. Try them with Auto-play on the Play tab.
Lesson: Martingale, Paroli and friends: what they really cost
See also: House edge, Flat betting
- Big Road
A scoreboard that groups the results into streaks: each column is a run of the same winner, and a new column starts when the other side wins. Ties are marked on the last bead. A long column is a "dragon".
Lesson: Scoreboards, streaks and the gambler's fallacy
See also: Bead Plate, Derived roads, Gambler's fallacy
- Burn
At the start of a shoe the first card is turned face up and that many cards are discarded face down (a 10 or a picture card burns 10).
Lesson: Can you count cards at baccarat?
See also: Shoe
- Card counting
Tracking the cards already dealt to spot hands where a bet has turned in your favour. For Player and Banker it almost never works; the Dragon 7 side bet is the known exception.
Lesson: Can you count cards at baccarat?
See also: Shoe tracker, Dragon 7
- Chemin de Fer
An older cousin of Punto Banco in which players take turns being the Banker and some draws are optional. Described in lessons only.
Lesson: Playing at a real table
See also: Punto Banco
- Commission
The 5% the casino keeps from a winning Banker bet: a $20 win pays $19. Charged only on wins. EZ Baccarat and Super 6 tables charge no commission and change the Banker payout instead.
Lesson: Who gets paid: commission, ties and pushes
See also: Banker, Commission box
- Commission box
At many real tables the dealer pays Banker wins in full and tracks the commission you owe with markers in a numbered box for your seat. You settle it when you leave or when the shoe ends.
Lesson: Who gets paid: commission, ties and pushes
See also: Commission
- Cost per hour
What a bet costs on average over an hour of play: bet × house edge × hands per hour. The app counts 72 hands an hour, a typical mini-baccarat pace.
Lesson: EV and the house edge, in plain English
See also: House edge
- Cut card
A plastic card placed 16 cards from the end of the shoe. When it comes out, the hand is finished, one more hand is dealt, and then the shoe is reshuffled.
Lesson: Can you count cards at baccarat?
See also: Shoe
- Derived roads
Big Eye Boy, Small Road and Cockroach Pig: patterns of patterns drawn from the Big Road. They carry no more information than the Big Road, and the app only explains them.
Lesson: Scoreboards, streaks and the gambler's fallacy
See also: Big Road
- Dragon 7
An EZ Baccarat side bet that the Banker wins with a three-card 7. Pays 40 to 1.
Lesson: Dragon 7, Panda 8 and the rest of the side bets
See also: EZ Baccarat, Panda 8
- Dragon Bonus
A side bet on Player or Banker that pays more the bigger the winning margin: 1 to 1 for a natural win, up to 30 to 1 for a win by 9 without a natural.
Lesson: Pairs and the Dragon Bonus
See also: Side bet
- Draw
Take a third card. Each hand draws at most once, and only when the third-card rule says so.
Lesson: Naturals, and when the Player draws
See also: Stand
- Effects of removal
How much each card taken out of the shoe moves each bet's EV. For Player and Banker the effects are tiny and nearly cancel.
Lesson: Can you count cards at baccarat?
See also: Card counting
- Element of risk
Expected loss divided by everything wagered in a hand. In baccarat it always equals the house edge, because nothing can be added to a bet once the cards are out.
Lesson: House edge, per hand and per hour
See also: House edge
- EV sheet
The app's price tag for a bet: its EV in dollars, its house edge, its rating, its cost per hour and a better choice if there is one. Tap and hold a bet spot, or tap EV under the table, before you bet.
Lesson: EV and the house edge, in plain English
See also: Expected value, House edge
- Even money
A payout of 1 to 1: bet $10, win $10. The Player bet pays even money; the Banker bet pays even money less commission.
- Expected value
What a bet returns on average over many hands: each result weighted by how often it happens. A negative EV is the average cost of the bet. Often shortened to EV.
Lesson: EV and the house edge, in plain English
See also: House edge, EV sheet
- EZ Baccarat
A table variant with no commission: Banker wins pay 1 to 1, except a Banker win with a three-card 7, which pushes. It offers the Dragon 7 and Panda 8 side bets.
- Flat betting
Betting the same amount every hand. The simplest plan, and the one with the lowest cost per hour for a given unit.
Lesson: Martingale, Paroli and friends: what they really cost
See also: Betting system
- Gambler's fallacy
The belief that past results change the next one: that Player is "due" after a run of Bankers, or that Banker is "hot". The cards don't remember who won.
Lesson: Scoreboards, streaks and the gambler's fallacy
See also: Big Road
- House edge
The share of each bet the casino keeps on average: the EV as a percentage of the bet, with pushes counted as hands where the bet came back. It is an average, not a promise about any one session.
Lesson: EV and the house edge, in plain English
See also: Expected value, Per resolved bet
- Mini-baccarat
A blackjack-sized baccarat table with one dealer, low minimums and fast play (about 72 hands an hour). Midi-baccarat and the big table deal the same game, more slowly and for higher limits.
Lesson: Playing at a real table
See also: Squeeze
- Natural
A two-card total of 8 or 9. If either hand has one, both hands stand at once and nobody draws. A natural 9 beats a natural 8.
Lesson: Naturals, and when the Player draws
See also: Third-card rule
- Pair
A side bet that one hand's first two cards are the same rank (Q-Q yes, Q-K no). Pays 11 to 1. Player Pair and Banker Pair are separate bets.
Lesson: Pairs and the Dragon Bonus
See also: Side bet
- Panda 8
An EZ Baccarat side bet that the Player wins with a three-card 8. Pays 25 to 1.
Lesson: Dragon 7, Panda 8 and the rest of the side bets
See also: EZ Baccarat, Dragon 7
- Per resolved bet
A second way to quote the house edge that ignores the hands where the bet pushed ("ties excluded"). It reads higher than the per-hand figure, which is the one this app shows first.
Lesson: House edge, per hand and per hour
See also: House edge
- Player
One of the two hands dealt every round, and the bet that it wins. It is only a name: you are not the Player, and anyone can bet on either hand. See Banker.
Lesson: Welcome to baccarat
- Punto Banco
The version of baccarat almost every casino deals, and the one this app teaches. Every draw follows a fixed rule, and players only choose their bets.
Lesson: Welcome to baccarat
- Push
A bet that neither wins nor loses: the chips come back. Player and Banker bets push on a tie.
Lesson: Who gets paid: commission, ties and pushes
See also: Tie
- Session
One sitting at the table, from buy-in to walking away. The app's session panel tracks hands, amount bet, result and the expected cost so far.
Lesson: Swings, sessions and bankroll
See also: Bankroll
- Shoe
The box the cards are dealt from. Here it holds 8 decks (416 cards), shuffled together, with a burn at the start and a cut card near the end.
Lesson: Can you count cards at baccarat?
- Shoe tracker
An optional panel (off by default) that shows the exact EV of every bet for the cards still left in this shoe, updated after each hand. The EV sheet always shows the fresh-shoe price.
Lesson: Can you count cards at baccarat?
See also: Card counting, EV sheet
- Side bet
An optional extra bet with its own paytable, such as the Pairs, Dragon Bonus, Dragon 7 and Panda 8. Side bets cost far more than Player or Banker: check the EV sheet.
Lesson: Pairs and the Dragon Bonus
See also: EV sheet
- Squeeze
Peeling a card up slowly from one corner to build suspense, at midi and big tables. It changes nothing: the card was decided when the shoe was shuffled. The app always reveals cards with a quick flip.
Lesson: Playing at a real table
See also: Mini-baccarat
- Stand
Keep two cards: no third card for that hand.
Lesson: Naturals, and when the Player draws
See also: Draw
- Standard deviation
The usual size of the swing in one bet's result, in units of the bet. Over many hands it grows only with the square root of the number of hands, while the expected loss grows in a straight line.
Lesson: Swings, sessions and bankroll
See also: Variance
- Sucker bet
The app's rating for the dearest bets on the table. The rating is always written out, never shown by colour alone. Placing one takes a second tap ("Bet it anyway").
Lesson: EV and the house edge, in plain English
See also: EV sheet
- Super 6
A table variant with no commission: Banker wins pay 1 to 1, except a Banker win with a total of 6, which pays only 1 to 2 (half). Also called Punto 2000.
Lesson: Choosing a table: commission, EZ and Super 6
See also: EZ Baccarat
- Tableau
The written drawing rules, especially the Banker's table: what the Banker does for each of its totals and each Player third card. See More → Drawing rules.
Lesson: The Banker's turn, part 2: the table
See also: Third-card rule
- Third-card rule
The fixed rule that decides whether each hand takes a third card. Naturals first, then the Player (draws on 0–5, stands on 6–7), then the Banker, whose choice can depend on the Player's third card. The dealer applies it; nobody chooses.
- Tie
Both hands end on the same total. The Tie bet wins; Player and Banker bets push.
Lesson: Who gets paid: commission, ties and pushes
See also: Push
- Total
A hand's value: the sum of its cards, last digit only (7 + 8 = 15 counts 5). Ace is 1, 2 to 9 count face value, and 10, J, Q and K count 0. Totals run from 0 to 9, so a hand can never bust. Also called the hand's point.
Lesson: Counting a hand: only the last digit
See also: Natural
- Unit
The base bet a betting system counts in. A $10 unit means a 3-unit bet is $30.
Lesson: Martingale, Paroli and friends: what they really cost
See also: Betting system
- Variance
How far results swing around the average. Over a few hands luck dominates; over thousands the house edge does. Measured by the standard deviation.
Lesson: Swings, sessions and bankroll
See also: Standard deviation, Bankroll