House Edge in Baccarat: Every Bet and Rule Change

The house edge in baccarat depends on which of the three bets you make. With eight decks and the standard 5% commission, it is 1.06% on Banker, 1.24% on Player and 14.36% on the tie, according to Wizard of Odds' eight-deck figures. Those numbers are not fixed, though: the commission rate, the tie payout and no-commission rule changes all move them, and US regulators publish the rules that set each one.

What house edge means for a baccarat bet

House edge is the share of each bet the casino expects to keep, averaged over a very long run of hands. It does not tell you what happens tonight; it tells you the price of playing. On a $100 Banker bet, a 1.06% edge works out to an average cost of $1.06 per hand at the standard table.

That price comes from two things working together: the fixed drawing rules (which decide when each hand takes a third card) and the payouts the casino posts. The drawing rules give Banker a slight advantage in how often it wins, which is why casinos charge a commission on Banker wins. Change a payout or the commission and the edge moves, even though the cards are dealt exactly the same way.

The exact figures for eight, six and one deck

The deck count barely moves the two main bets but shifts the tie noticeably.

Figures from Wizard of Odds' house edge tables, accessed October 2026. At six decks the tie edge is 14.44%, and at a single deck the tie edge rises further to 15.75%, while Banker drops to 1.01% and Player climbs to 1.29%. Put another way, $100 on the tie at eight decks costs an average of $14.36, more than thirteen times the price of the same $100 on Banker.

Banker vs. Player bet: which has better odds?

Banker has the lower house edge at every deck count in the table above, even after the casino takes its cut. Player pays even money: Colorado's rules state that a winning Player bet pays 1 to 1, as of October 2026. Banker also pays even money, minus the commission.

The gap between the two is small, 1.06% against 1.24% at eight decks. That means the choice between them matters far less than avoiding the tie, but if you are going to make one bet repeatedly, Banker at a standard commission is the cheaper one.

How the Banker commission sets the edge

The 1.06% Banker figure assumes a 5% commission, and that is a house choice rather than a law of the game. Colorado's baccarat rules let the casino set the Banker vigorish at anywhere from 5 to 25 percent of the amount won, as posted at the table (as of October 2026). Every point of commission above 5% comes straight out of Banker winnings, so the edge on Banker rises with it. Read the table placard before you sit down.

Colorado also allows a different way of collecting it. A licensee may charge the vigorish on tied totals instead of on Banker wins: the Banker bet pays its commission when Banker and Player tie, and the usual commission on wins is not collected. The cards and the drawing rules are unchanged; only the moment the house takes its fee moves.

No-commission baccarat and the rules that replace the 5%

No-commission tables do not give up the edge; they collect it through a payout rule instead. In Nevada's published rules for no-commission live baccarat, a Banker win with a total of 6 is paid only 0.5 to 1 instead of even money (as of October 2026). Most Banker wins pay in full, and the half payout on that one total does the work the commission used to do.

EZ Baccarat uses a push instead of a reduced payout. Under the Colorado rules, there is no commission, and when Banker wins with a three-card total of 7 the Banker bet is a push, so you get your stake back but no winnings. The same game offers a Dragon 7 side bet that pays 40 to 1.

Some tables run a Red 8 variant, which pays certain Banker wins with an 8 at even money. At eight decks this rule lowers the Banker edge from 1.06% to 0.81%, one of the few rule changes that moves the edge in the player's favour.

Why the tie bet costs so much

The tie looks generous at 8 to 1, but ties are rare enough that the payout falls well short of fair. Colorado sets the floor: a winning tie pays at least 8 to 1, as of October 2026. At that price the tie edge is 14.36% at eight decks.

A table paying 9 to 1 on ties changes the picture sharply. At a 9 to 1 tie payout, the edge drops to 4.844% at eight decks, 4.931% at six decks and 6.385% at one deck. That is still several times the Banker edge, so even the better tie payout leaves it the most expensive of the three main bets.

Baccarat side bets and their true cost

Side bets such as Dragon 7 advertise long payouts like 40 to 1, but a big payout says nothing about the edge behind it. The sources here do not publish an edge for Dragon 7, so treat any side bet the way the tie maths suggests: as a wager priced well above Banker or Player unless the table can show you otherwise. If you want the lowest cost per hand, the main bets are where it sits.

Related guide: house edge in blackjack

Our guide to the house edge for blackjack walks through the same idea for a game where your own decisions also count.

Guide questions

Is baccarat actually 50/50?

No. Banker and Player are close to even, but neither is a coin flip, because ties take rounds away from both and the casino builds an edge into every bet. At eight decks the edge is 1.06% on Banker and 1.24% on Player, so the house keeps a small share of both over time.

What is the most effective strategy for winning in baccarat?

No staking plan changes the edge on a bet; it only changes how much you put at risk. The one choice that lowers your average cost is which bet you make: Banker at a standard 5% commission carries the lowest edge of the three main bets, and the tie carries by far the highest.

Is it worth playing baccarat?

That depends on what you want from it, but on cost alone the two main bets come to 1.06% for Banker and 1.24% for Player with eight decks. Treat that edge as the price of entertainment, set a bankroll you can afford to lose, and skip the tie.

Sources and further reading

• Colorado Division of Gaming via Cornell LII, 1 CCR 207-1-28 Rules for Baccarat (Colorado Gaming Commission), accessed October 2026
• Nevada Gaming Control Board, Live Baccarat Rules of Play, accessed October 2026
• Wizard of Odds, Baccarat Basics - Rules, Strategy, and Tips for Beginners, accessed October 2026