Baccarat Payouts and Commission: Is No Commission Worth It?

“Why does a winning Banker bet pay 1 to 1 minus a commission, so that a $10 bet wins only $9.50?” “Is no-commission baccarat actually the better deal?” Questions like these come up often when players look at baccarat payouts.

That small difference in payouts and the way the commission works both affect your results over the long run. If you choose a table without understanding its rules, you may keep playing at a higher house edge without realizing it.

What You Will Learn

• A winning Player bet pays 1 to 1, so a $10 bet wins $10. A winning Banker bet pays 1 to 1 minus a 5% commission, so a $10 bet wins $9.50.
• Even after the commission, the Banker bet has a higher overall return to player (RTP) than the Player bet.

This article takes about 12 minutes to read.

Baccarat Payouts and Commission: The Basics

At first glance, baccarat looks like a simple game with two choices: you bet on whether Player or Banker will win.

When you are actually paid, though, a winning Banker bet leaves you with less than a winning Player bet.

That small difference in payouts is the core of the house edge, the margin that gives the casino its profit and keeps the game viable.

In baccarat, cards are dealt to two hands, called Player and Banker, and you bet on which hand will win. “Player” is simply the name of one of the bets and does not refer to you. To keep the two apart, this article uses “Player” and “Banker” with capital letters for the hands and the bets on them.

Why Player and Banker Bets Pay Differently

In baccarat, a winning Player bet pays 1 to 1, so a $10 bet wins $10. A winning Banker bet is usually paid 1 to 1 minus a 5% commission, so a $10 bet wins $9.50.

The main reason for this difference is simple: statistically, the Banker hand wins more often.

Baccarat has fixed rules for when each hand draws a third card, known as the third-card rules, and these rules are designed in a way that favors the Banker hand. The win rates, excluding ties, are as follows.

• Banker win rate: about 50.68%
• Player win rate: about 49.32%

The gap is only 1.36 percentage points, but if the Banker bet also paid a full 1 to 1 like the Player bet, the casino would lose money over the long run. To offset its higher chance of winning, the Banker bet is paid slightly less.

What Is the 5% Commission on Winning Banker Bets?

In standard baccarat, the reduced payout on the Banker bet comes from a 5% commission.

If you bet $100 on Banker and win, you would otherwise get $200 back. Instead, 5% of the $100 bet, or $5, is deducted as a commission, and you receive $195 in total.

At land-based casinos, you will often see the dealer working out the commission and collecting it in chips. At online casinos, the system calculates it automatically.

You may wonder whether it makes more sense to keep betting on Player, which has no commission. As explained above, however, the Banker hand wins more often, so even after the commission is paid, the Banker bet returns a higher share of the money wagered and has the lower house edge of the two.

Quick fact: RTP comparison

• Banker: about 98.94%
• Player: about 98.76%

Why the Tie Bet Is a Poor Bet

One bet that stands out on the baccarat layout is the Tie, which pays 8 to 1.

The chance of turning a $10 bet into an $80 win, for $90 back in total, is appealing. Mathematically, though, it is a bet whose expected loss is far larger than on the main bets.

The reason is straightforward: the payout is far too low for how rarely a tie occurs.

• Probability of a tie: about 9.52% (about once every 10.5 hands)
• House edge: about 14.36%

The house edge is about 1.24% on the Player bet and about 1.06% on the Banker bet. On the Tie, you are effectively giving the casino about 14.36% of every bet.

In other words, if you keep betting on the Tie, your bankroll shrinks about 13.5 times as fast as it would on the Banker bet (house edge about 1.06%).

You are free to follow a hunch that a tie is due, but if you want to limit your losses, the safer approach is to treat the Tie as something to watch rather than bet on.

Start by playing the main bets, Player and Banker, which have a low house edge, and focus on keeping your bankroll from shrinking.

No-Commission Baccarat Payout Rules and What to Watch For

When you play baccarat, you will often come across tables advertised as “no commission.”

Because the 5% commission normally taken from winning Banker bets drops to zero, these rules can look far more favorable at first glance.

In exchange for waiving the commission, however, these games include a rule that cuts the payout sharply or turns the bet into a push under certain conditions. The two most common formats, Super 6 and EZ Baccarat, use different conditions.

In the Most Common No-Commission Format, a Banker Win with 6 Pays Half

The no-commission format widely used at online casinos and at casinos in Asia is commonly called Super 6-style baccarat. The most important rule to know is that when the Banker hand wins with a total of 6, the bet pays only half, or 1 to 2.

In standard baccarat, a $10 Banker bet that wins returns $19.50 after the commission. Under this rule, a Banker win with 6 returns only $15, a win of just $5.

• Standard baccarat: pays 1 to 1 minus a 5% commission, whatever the winning total
• Super 6 no-commission: pays 1 to 1, except 1 to 2 when Banker wins with a total of 6

This exception applies to only one winning total, but its effect is significant. The Banker hand wins with a 6 about 5.39% of the time (about once every 18–19 hands), and reducing the payout at that frequency is how the casino secures its profit.

Is No-Commission Baccarat Really a Better Deal?

Which is better, no-commission or standard? The answer depends on which variant the table uses. The table below compares the RTP of the two most common formats with that of standard baccarat.

As the table shows, Super 6 trades mathematical value for convenience: payouts are easier to work out, but the house edge is slightly higher than in standard baccarat.

EZ Baccarat, widely offered in North America and Europe, is an exception: its Banker bet matches or slightly exceeds the RTP of standard baccarat. When choosing a table, first check whether a Banker 6 pays half or a three-card Banker 7 is a push.

The Super 6 Side Bet Found at Some Tables

Some Super 6 tables also offer a side bet of the same name, which wins only if the Banker hand wins with a total of 6.

The payout on this side bet varies widely from casino to casino. Typical examples and their house edge are as follows.

• Pays 12 to 1: house edge about 29.98%
• Pays 15 to 1: house edge about 13.82%

At 12 to 1, the house edge of about 29.98% is far higher than the roughly 14.36% on the Tie, and the expected loss is much larger than on the main bets.

Using the side bet as a hedge against the reduced payout on a Banker 6 actually increases your expected losses, given its house edge.

When you play no-commission baccarat, the safest approach is to treat it simply as baccarat with easier payout calculations and leave the side bet alone.

Standard vs. No-Commission Baccarat: Which Keeps Losses Lower?

When choosing a baccarat table, the hardest decision for many players is between standard baccarat, which charges a commission, and the Super 6 no-commission format, which has become common in recent years.

Whether a commission is charged looks like a big difference at first. When you compare the amounts actually paid out, however, you can see how carefully the casino has balanced the two formats.

Standard baccarat pays a winning Banker bet a flat 1 to 1 minus a 5% commission, regardless of the winning total. Super 6 pays 1 to 1, but the payout is cut to 1 to 2 only when Banker wins with a total of 6. The table below shows how this difference affects the total amount returned (winnings plus the original bet).

Looking only at the “totals other than 6” column, Super 6 appears to pay more every time. However, the reduction on a Banker 6, which comes about once every 18–19 hands, slightly exceeds the total commission paid on every Banker win in standard baccarat, so over the long run the comparison is reversed. This explains the difference in RTP: about 98.94% for standard and about 98.54% for Super 6.

The house edge on the Banker bet rises from about 1.06% to about 1.46%, so the RTP is 0.40 percentage points lower.

Which should you choose?

• Standard baccarat: suited to players who put theoretical expected value first and want to improve their long-term results, even slightly.
• Super 6 no-commission: suited to players who dislike waiting for commission calculations and value a faster pace and simpler payouts.

With this in mind, choose your table according to whether you value convenience or the better theoretical return.

Managing Your Bankroll with Payouts in Mind

Once you understand how payouts and the house edge work, the next question is how to manage your bets.

Whichever bet you choose, baccarat has a negative expected value, and if you bet carelessly, you can lose your bankroll in a short time.

Risks of the Martingale System When Banker Pays 1 to 1 Minus Commission

The Martingale system, in which you double your bet after every loss, is designed for bets that pay 1 to 1.

If you use it on the Banker bet in standard baccarat, which pays 1 to 1 minus a 5% commission, a long enough losing streak reaches a point where even a win leaves you behind overall.

For example, suppose you start with a $10 bet, lose five times in a row, and then win a $320 Banker bet on the sixth hand.

• Total losses (hands 1–5): $10 + $20 + $40 + $80 + $160 = $310
• Winnings on hand 6 (after the 5% commission): $320 × 0.95 = $304
• Net result: $304 − $310 = −$6 (a loss of $6)

On the Player bet, which pays a full 1 to 1, the same sequence would end with a $10 profit. On the Banker bet, you win the hand but are still behind overall.

Because the commission keeps the doubled bets from fully recovering earlier losses, there is a limit to how far you can chase losses on the Banker bet.

Any doubling system will eventually have to stop, because table limits and your bankroll are both finite. Starting at $10 at a table with a $1,000 maximum bet, you can bet up to $640 on the seventh hand, but not the $1,280 needed on the eighth. After seven losses in a row, you are left with a loss of $1,270 that the system can no longer recover.

A betting system changes only the variance, meaning the size of the swings in your results. It changes neither the probability of winning each hand nor the overall house edge.

Benefits and Long-Term Limits of the D’Alembert System

The D’Alembert system, in which you raise your bet by one unit after a loss and lower it by one unit after a win, increases bets more gradually than the Martingale system and puts less psychological pressure on the player.

This system is not foolproof either. Your results depend on the balance of wins and losses, and because of the house edge, losses tend to outnumber wins over the long run.

For example, two wins and two losses leave you two units ahead in any order, but if losses outnumber wins, you fall behind.

Mathematical analysis also shows that, whatever betting system you use, over the long run your expected loss equals the total amount wagered multiplied by the house edge.

Betting systems can help you ride out short-term swings, but they cannot eliminate the house edge itself.

Bankroll Management Basics to Avoid Going Broke

The purpose of bankroll management is not to improve your expected value but to limit the risk of going broke during a losing streak and to keep you from chasing losses emotionally.

To gamble responsibly, it is a good idea to decide the following before you play.

• Bet size per hand (one unit): For example, keeping each bet to about 1–2% of your total bankroll makes it easier to avoid losing your money in a short time.
• Loss limit and win goal: Set your own rule in advance, such as stopping for the day once you have lost (or won) a set percentage of your bankroll, and stick to it.
• Total amount wagered: The longer you stay at the table and the more you wager in total, the larger the effect of the house edge (your expected loss) becomes in dollar terms.

Bankroll management is less a way to win than a safeguard that keeps your losses under control and prevents the kind of loss you cannot recover from. Play calmly and stay within the level of risk you can accept.

Frequently Asked Questions About Baccarat Payouts

Do baccarat payouts differ from casino to casino?

Yes. Payouts vary depending on the casino and the rules the table uses.

The main bets pay the same at most casinos: 1 to 1 on Player and 1 to 1 minus a 5% commission on Banker. Payouts on the Tie and on side bets, however, are not standardized.

For example, some tables pay 8 to 1 on the Tie, so a $10 bet wins $80, with a house edge of about 14.36%. Others pay 9 to 1, so a $10 bet wins $90, which lowers the house edge to about 4.84%. Even at 9 to 1, the house edge is still high compared with about 1.24% on Player and about 1.06% on Banker.

Make it a habit to check the table’s pay table before you play.

Are Super 6 and no-commission baccarat the same thing?

Strictly speaking, Super 6 is one type of no-commission baccarat.

“No commission” is a general term for rules that waive the 5% commission on winning Banker bets. The most common type is Super 6, and the other main type is EZ Baccarat.

Both waive the commission, but they differ in the conditions under which the payout is limited (see “No-Commission Baccarat Payout Rules and What to Watch For” above for details).

Summary: Understanding Payouts and Commission Helps You Choose Tables That Keep Losses Lower

Baccarat may look like a simple game of pure chance, but its rules and payouts are carefully calculated.

• The Banker payout of 1 to 1 minus a 5% commission is a deliberate figure. Because of the drawing rules, Banker is slightly more likely to win, and the commission offsets that edge so that no advantage is left for the player.
• Super 6 no-commission baccarat makes payouts easier to calculate, but its expected value tends to be slightly lower than that of standard baccarat.
• Side bets carry a house edge roughly 10–28 times that of the main bets (about 1.06% on Banker), so think carefully before placing them.

Attractive phrases such as “no commission” and “high payouts” always come with a mathematical adjustment: what you gain in one place, the casino recovers somewhere else.

The first step toward keeping your losses down is to understand these adjustments and decide for yourself whether you value convenience or the better theoretical expected value.

Start by checking which rules the table in front of you uses, and then enjoy a game whose terms you fully understand.