How to Deal Baccarat: The Dealer's Procedure, Step by Step
Knowing how to deal baccarat is useful whether you are hosting a home game, training as a dealer, or just want to follow a live table without getting lost. The good news is that a punto banco dealer makes no choices at all: every card that is drawn or not drawn is fixed by the rules. The skill is in doing the same steps, in the same order, every hand — so that anyone watching can check the result. This page walks through a shoe from shuffle to the last hand, then deals three example hands card by card. For the full third-card table itself see baccarat rules; here we focus on the order of work.
Before the first hand: shuffle, cut, burn
- Shuffle. Most tables use eight decks (416 cards); some use six. The decks are shuffled together, by hand or by machine.
- Offer the cut. A player (or the dealer) inserts a plastic card into the stack, and the dealer cuts the decks at that point.
- Place the cut card. A second plastic card, the cut card, goes in near the end of the stack — often about one deck from the bottom. When it appears, the dealer finishes the current hand (house rules decide whether one more hand is played) and the shoe ends.
- Load the shoe and burn. The dealer turns the first card face up and discards that many cards face down: an ace burns one, a 7 burns seven, and a ten or picture card burns ten. The burned cards are not used.
The burn and the cut card exist for security — they make it harder for anyone to know exactly which cards are at the start or end of the shoe. They do not change the odds of any hand.
Dealing one hand: the order
Once bets are closed, the dealer draws four cards from the shoe, alternating between the two hands. The standard order is:
| Card from shoe | Goes to | Face |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Player | Down (or up, by table) |
| 2nd | Banker | Down |
| 3rd | Player | Down |
| 4th | Banker | Down |
| 5th (if needed) | Player's third card | Up |
| 5th or 6th (if needed) | Banker's third card | Up |
Then the hands are revealed — Player first, then Banker. At a squeeze table the players with the largest bets on each side may be allowed to turn their hand's cards; otherwise the dealer turns them. After the reveal the dealer announces each total, for example "Player five, Banker three".
Calling the third card
The order of decisions is always the same, and getting it wrong is the classic dealing mistake:
- Check for a natural. If either hand has 8 or 9 from its first two cards, the hand is over. Nobody draws. This happens in 34.3% of hands.
- Player acts first. With 0–5 the Player hand draws one card; with 6 or 7 it stands.
- Banker acts second. If the Player stood, the Banker draws on 0–5 and stands on 6–7. If the Player drew, the Banker's decision depends on its own total and the value of the Player's third card, following the fixed table.
That second step is why the Player's third card is dealt face up immediately: the dealer needs its value to know whether Banker draws. In practice the Player hand receives a third card in 50.34% of hands and the Banker hand in 43.54%.
Three hands dealt card by card
| Hand | First four cards (P, B, P, B) | Totals | What the dealer calls | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 9, K, Q, 8 | P 9 · B 8 | "Natural nine, natural eight" — no draws | Player wins 9 to 8 |
| B | 3, 5, 2, J | P 5 · B 5 | "Card for Player" → 6 (P now 1). Banker 5 with a Player 6: Banker draws → 4 (B now 9) | Banker wins 9 to 1 |
| C | 4, 6, 3, K | P 7 · B 6 | "Player stands on seven." Player stood, so Banker stands on 6 | Player wins 7 to 6 |
Hand B shows the order clearly: the dealer could not decide anything for Banker until the Player's third card was on the table. Hand C shows a common slip — a new dealer may reach for a card for Banker 6, but with the Player standing, Banker 6 stands too.
Paying and collecting
- Player wins: Player bets are paid 1 to 1; Banker bets are collected.
- Banker wins: Banker bets are paid 1 to 1 minus 5% commission — a 100 bet returns 95 profit. Many tables track commission with markers and settle it at the end of the shoe; most modern tables simply deduct it on each payout.
- Tie: Tie bets are paid (8 to 1 at most tables); Banker and Player bets are pushed — returned, not lost.
- Side bets such as pairs are settled after the main result, using only the cards they refer to. See baccarat side bets.
Collect losing bets first, then pay winners — the usual order at any table game, because it keeps the chips in front of the dealer easier to check.
How many cards and hands in a shoe?
Every hand uses four cards, plus one for each third card drawn. Using the draw rates above, the average hand uses 4 + 0.503 + 0.435 ≈ 4.94 cards. That gives a simple way to estimate a shoe:
| Where the cut card sits | Cards in play (8 decks) | Hands, approx. |
|---|---|---|
| No cut card, deal to the last card | 416 | 84 |
| 14 cards from the end | 402 | 81 |
| One deck (52 cards) from the end | 364 | 74 |
Burned cards reduce these figures slightly. At a normal pace of 60–80 hands an hour, an 80-hand shoe lasts roughly 60–80 minutes; a speed table running about 120 hands an hour gets through one in around 40 minutes.
Common dealing mistakes
- Drawing for Banker before the Player's third card is known.
- Drawing a third card after a natural on either side — a natural on one side ends the hand for both.
- Giving the Player a card on 6 or 7.
- Forgetting to deduct commission on a Banker win, or taking commission on a tie push.
- Exposing a card out of order. House procedures vary on how to fix this, so the dealer should call a supervisor rather than improvise.
Practising at home
To learn the procedure, deal a single deck face up and say each step aloud: natural check, Player, Banker. Writing each result on a paper scoreboard is good practice too — or use the free Baccarat Scoreboard app, which draws the bead plate and big road as you tap. If you want to watch the same procedure on real tables, the live baccarat tracker shows each shoe's results as they are dealt. For words such as burn, shoe and squeeze, the baccarat glossary has short definitions.
Dealing FAQ
Does the baccarat dealer make any decisions? No. In punto banco both hands follow a fixed drawing table. The dealer's job is to follow it in the right order and settle bets correctly.
What is the dealing order in baccarat? Player, Banker, Player, Banker for the first four cards; then Player's third card if needed, then Banker's.
Why does the dealer burn cards? For game security. The burned cards are not used, but they do not change the probability of any result.
How many cards are dealt per hand? Four to six. On average about 4.94, because the Player draws in about half of all hands and the Banker in a little under half.
Who turns the cards at a squeeze table? Usually the player with the highest bet on each side, if the table allows it; otherwise the dealer.
Draw frequencies from exhaustive enumeration of an 8-deck shoe; cards per hand and hands per shoe are arithmetic from those frequencies — Baccarat Terminal, October 2026. Procedures (burn, commission handling, squeeze) vary by venue. 18+. Informational only; not a gambling service.