Best Irish Baccarat Sites

How to play baccarat online

Settling into a game of baccarat online is easy. Simply browse the best baccarat sites on TopRatedCasinos.ie, comparing everything from the games library and bonuses to promotional offers and support for certain payment methods. Once you sign up, you’ll be able to click or tap your way through to the baccarat games available – these may range from the classic online version or live baccarat, which takes things to another level with real croupiers.

Baccarat rules

Baccarat is a game of chance, and it’s easy for newcomers to pick up because you don’t actually play the cards yourself – that’s all done automatically by the dealer. The only decisions you have to make come at the start of each round, when you decide how much you’d like to bet on either the player, the banker or a tie. (The word “player” here is just a naming convention for one of the hands, and has no connection to you or any other players at the table.)

Each round sees the player and banker each dealt two cards, face up. Cards two to nine have their face value, Aces are worth one point, while 10s, Jacks, Queens and Kings are all worth zero. Before the cards are dealt, you’ll be betting on whether the player or banker will come closest to nine (or whether it’ll be a tie).

If either the player or banker is dealt two cards adding up to nine, that’s known as a natural nine and is deemed the winning hand. The next best hand is a natural eight, which wins in the absence of a natural nine. If the two cards add up to a number higher than eight, the first digit is removed. So if, say, the player is dealt a nine and eight, the combined score is actually a seven.

When playing baccarat online, the only real complexity comes if a third card is dealt for the player. The gameplay goes like this:

• If the player’s initial two cards add up to five or below, the player is dealt a third card
• If, however, the player stands after the first two cards, the Banker will only be dealt a third card if the banker’s initial two cards up to 5 or below
• If the player is dealt a third card, the banker may then be dealt a third card depending on either the banker’s total so far, or the value of the third card the player received

If all that sounds a little too much to wrap your head around, don’t worry. When playing baccarat online, all of this plays out automatically. As we said above, all you have to do is decide which way to bet at the very start, and then sit back and see which hand wins.

Baccarat strategy

So, what’s the best strategy to have in mind when you sign into any of the best baccarat sites? The bottom line is this game is almost entirely down to luck, as you can’t affect the outcome of each hand. You just bet before any cards are dealt, then do nothing more except sit tight and see whether you’ve backed the hand that comes closest to nine.

That said, many players like to bet on the banker every time, as the banker does have a fractionally higher chance of winning due to the third hand rules and the fact that the banker completes its hand after the player’s. The casino will generally make up for this by charging a 5% commission on banker payouts.

One very good rule to follow is never to make a tie bet when you play baccarat online. Yes, the payout on a win is greater, but as ties are statistically infrequent, this is often dubbed a “sucker’s bet”.

If you do want to adopt a betting strategy, a popular one for baccarat is the Martingale system. It’s a simple one to remember: you just double your bet with each loss, ensuring you’ll recoup your losses when a win eventually happens. Just bear in mind there’s always a risk you’ll run out of funds, or max out the betting limit, before that win does come. Remember – no strategy can guarantee a win, baccarat games are determined by chance.

Best baccarat bonuses

When comparing the best baccarat sites and best live sites, you’ll want to carefully consider the various welcome bonuses which may be offered by certain casinos. There are a few common types:

• A matched deposit bonus, where your initial deposit will be matched by the casino, up to a certain percentage – often 100% or even 200%
• A no deposit bonus, where you’re given a small amount of money to play without having to deposit any money at all
• A no wagering bonus, which usually requires a deposit, but means any bonus winnings are available immediately – no need to play through them to make your bonus winnings withdrawable

Whichever one you prefer, it’s important to bear in mind that these bonuses will usually come with wagering requirements. That means you’ll have to bet a certain number of times before you’re able to withdraw any winnings earnt from your initial bonus. The other thing to remember is that different casino games will contribute different amounts to that wagering requirement.

While slots, for example, often contribute 100%, table games like baccarat can usually only go a small way to satisfying the wagering requirement. Meaning you’ll have to play a lot of baccarat to get those bonus winnings, unless you mix things up with slots and other games.

Best live baccarat sites

Playing baccarat online is fun, but live baccarat adds that extra level of casino magic. This way, you’ll be playing with a real dealer at a real table, with the action streamed via webcam from swanky casino-style sets. With TopRatedCasinos.ie, you can check out the best live baccarat sites at a glance, compare the bonuses on offer and make an informed choice. Then, you can get stuck into the game, with the chat window letting you interact directly with the dealer as all the excitement unfolds.