With "baccarat hand rules", the key is the order in which cards are drawn. Baccarat looks formal and plays simply: two hands, called player and banker, are dealt, and the bettor backs one of them or a tie. Nobody at the table makes a decision about drawing, because a fixed rule decides whether each hand takes a third card. Knowing the point values and that rule makes every round easy to follow, from the first card to the result.
The player hand acts first. With a total from zero to five it draws a third card, and with six or seven it stands. That part of the rule is simple and never varies between tables. The player's third card, if one is drawn, then becomes the key to what the banker hand does next, which is why the banker's rule looks more complicated than it really is. The dealer applies both parts automatically.
When the player stands, the banker follows the same rule as the player: draw on five or less, stand on six or seven. When the player has drawn, the banker's decision depends on its own total and on the value of the player's third card. A banker total of two or less always draws, seven always stands, and totals from three to six draw only against certain third cards. A printed table sets out each case.
The player hand draws on any total from zero to five and stands on six or seven, a rule that stays the same at every table.
Pair bets and other extras sit beside the main boxes, each paying at the rate printed on the layout for that particular wager.
Twos through nines keep their face value, aces are worth one, and tens along with picture cards score nothing, so a seven and an eight make five.
If the player stood, banker draws on five or less; otherwise banker always draws on two or less, stands on seven, and between three and six follows a printed table.
No: the roads only record past rounds in coloured marks, and since the shoe has no memory of earlier hands they forecast nothing.
Each box on the layout carries its own minimum, and the table limits show the smallest accepted stake for player, banker, tie and pair bets.