Guide to Online Baccarat in Canada and the Bonuses

Gambling as a hobby dates back thousands of years. The Greeks were known for their fondness for sports betting, a trend that later transpired to the Romans. Casino games were introduced way later in the timeline. They still remain one of the most enjoyable things you can do in your free time.

In the mid-1990s, the gambling industry first became available online. The progress in the initial days has surely been slow. But after almost 30 years, we believe online gambling is solid enough to be a sustainable industry.

Canada has always been a part of the paradigm because the government never really banned your access to the games. This guide on our website is for Baccarat, perhaps the simplest casino game of our time.

Throughout this guide, we’ll learn how to play baccarat, what different hands mean, what bonuses you can expect to get, and a handful of other information. Let’s get started.

What is Baccarat?

Baccarat is a card game commonly found in casinos. It’s a very common game that you can find across the world, including in Canada. On paper, there are a lot of things that go into making one round of the game. But when you actually play, it becomes a lot easier.

Baccarat is also one of the very few table games that you can play without prior learning. It’s simply because all the mathematical calculations and payouts are taken care of by the dealer. If you’re playing an RNG version of the game, the dealer is the software.

Baccarat is an Italian term that translates to zero in English. It’s foreshadowing the fact that all major cards in a deck are valued at 0 in this game. By major cards, we mean the King, Queen, Jacks, and 10.

That leaves us with the rest of the deck, cards through Ace to 9 for all 4 suits. Thankfully, all of these cards have their face value so there’s nothing really to understand here.

The game of Baccarat is believed to have originated in the 1400s. Felix Falguiere is widely credited as the inventor of this game. There is an elaborate story on how he came up with the game involving Etruscan folklore. But let’s not get into that because it’s the present form of the game that we’re more interested in.

How to Play Baccarat?

You already know that Baccarat is a card game. In general, casino games that use cards allow players a little more control over the outcome. But Baccarat is different. It’s mostly a game of chance.

To understand Baccarat, you first need to understand the parties involved. They’re the player and the banker. This is a huge area of confusion for people all over the world so pay attention.

The “player” is simply a hand in the game. It’s not you. And it’s not other players who’re present with you in the lobby.

Similarly, the “banker” is another hand. It’s not referring to the dealer or the casino. When you play the game, you choose either player or banker because both are valid choices for you.

Now that we’ve cleared the air, it’s time to get into the ins and outs of the rules of this game. Let’s start with the objective.

The objective of Playing Baccarat

If you’re familiar with Blackjack, you might know that your goal is to get as close to 21 as possible without going over. Baccarat also follows a similar approach. Your goal is to get as close to 9 as possible without going over. This is also the reason why all cards over 9 are valued at 0.

If you get a hand that goes over 9, you have to deduct 10 from the result to get the actual hand value. Depending on what you land on, you can draw another card, which you can compare to hitting in Blackjack.

The flow of Play in Baccarat

Until this point, we’ve only covered the tip of the Baccarat iceberg. In this section, we plan to go deep. The goal is to cover the flow of the game so you can understand the journey.

If you look at the Baccarat table, you should see 3 different fields. Player, Banker, and Tie. The player and banker fields are usually on either end of the table with the tie in the middle.

The dealer will start off the game by dealing 1 card for each player and banker. Then, the dealer will do the same for the 2nd card. Once the initial 2 cards are dealt, you have your hand. If it’s over 10, just deduct 10. For example, if you get an 8 and a 5, that’s 3 (13-10 = 3).

As your goal is to reach as close to 9 as possible, 3 is not a very good hand. In this case, you get to draw another card. This goes for both hands, regardless of how many players are available in the lobby.

Once the 3rd card(s) are dealt, the dealer will declare who the winner is and push the winning chips to the appropriate position. Of course, we’re dealing with online Baccarat in this guide. So, all of what we just discussed is automatic.

In case both hands have the same value, it’s a tie. Interestingly, a tie is also a valid outcome in the game and it pays the most.

Baccarat Payout in Canada

We might be primarily dealing with Canadian online casinos in this guide but everything is pretty much the same across the same. The rules, the payouts, and the strategies carry over all over the place.

By now, you know that there are 3 valid outcomes in the game. All of them have different payouts. Let’s create a table to list all that.

If you look at the hands closely, you can see the slight differences. Many players believe that both banker and player hands pay 1 to 1 but as you can see, that’s not true. The banker hand has a higher probability and so, a little less payout. The 0.05% actually goes to the casino as a commission.

It means every time you bet on the banker and win, you have to pay a 5% commission. That’s not the case for the player hand. Whatever you bet, you get the exact amount of return as a profit.

As for the tie, it comes with very promising payouts but the odds are just not worth it. We strongly recommend all our players to not waste time and money on the tie. You can win if you’re extremely lucky but expecting to profit from a tie is simply daydreaming.

Drawing the 3rd Card

Until this point, keeping track of things in Baccarat is a fairly simple process, right? You have 2 major hands to bet on. You either win or you lose. But things start to get tricky when you involve the 3rd card, for either of the hands.

There is a lot of going back and forth between what the values of either hand are to determine whether a 3rd card gets drawn or not. Even to this day, it becomes hard for us to keep track of what’s happening. We’re going to try and explain the intricacies as simply as possible.

Let’s start with the player hand. If it’s an 8 or 9 after the first dealing, it’s an automatic winner. The same goes for the banker hand too. Just like 21 is considered a “natural” in Blackjack, 8 or 9 is considered a natural in Baccarat.

If the player hand gets a 6 or a 7, it stands. Standing means not drawing any more cards. While the player is standing, the dealer draws a 3rd card if it’s below 5. The banker stands too if it’s a 6 or 7. If the player hand is 5 or below, it’ll get the 3rd card.

We can keep on going about how the 3rd card is drawn in online Baccarat. But we’re not going to. Do you know why? It’s simply because all of these actions will be completed by the dealer anyway. Sure, it’s good to know how the game works before you dive into it. But it’s not mandatory.

Bonuses You Can Enjoy for Baccarat

Finally, we’ve reached the section of our guide that you’ve been waiting for. The online bonuses. These are fairly common across all online casinos around the world. In fact, bonuses have been the most effective marketing tactic for the majority of operators.

Just like all the other games you can play in Canada, Baccarat also comes under the radar of bonuses. In this section, let’s go over the most common bonuses Canadian online casinos offer to the player.

Welcome Bonus

A welcome bonus is always the first bonus you get at an online casino or an online sportsbook. The title of the bonus pretty much explains its purpose. In our experience, the majority of the welcome bonuses match your first deposit. It might be a 100% match, a 50% match, or even a 200% match. It’s totally up to the operator.

When you get a monetary bonus, you can use it across all the games. If the online casino has a good selection of Baccarat games and you’re a fan of it, you should certainly spend the bonus money on the game.

Deposit Match

These bonuses are very similar to welcome bonuses. The only difference is that these are not for new players. Once you go through the welcome bonus of an online casino in Canada and get another bonus on one of your deposits, you’ve got a deposit match bonus in your hand!

The terms are often the same for deposit match bonuses as the welcome bonus. You should find the terms and conditions for each bonus on either the main T&C page or on the dedicated bonus terms page.

Free Chips

Inherently rare, these bonuses are exclusively offered for table games. It’s simply because you can’t use “chips” on slots. You need “spins” for that. For example, the free spins bonuses at online casinos.

When you get free chips, you should be able to use them across all table games including Baccarat. The idea is simple. However many chips you have, they all have a fixed value to them. You can bet up to that value. And then, you wager the winnings you generate from the chips.

Live Casino Bonus/Cashback

Sometimes you get a live casino bonus in Canada. And at other times, you get a cashback. While these bonuses are not similar in any way, we’ve decided to cover them both under the same roof (read header).

A “live casino bonus” is very self-explanatory. Whatever rewards you’re getting, you’re getting them for live casino games. Needless to say, there are plenty of live dealer baccarat games in Canada.

As for cashbacks, they’re a way to patch your real money funds with some much-needed refund. You can expect up to 20% cashback in the country.

How to Choose the Right Baccarat Bonus Casino

Before we put a wrap on our Baccarat guide, we want you to master the art of choosing the right online casinos at all times. All you have to do is follow along.

Check for a Valid License

If you can ensure a valid license at an online casino in Canada, you’ve won the battle by at least 50%. Remember, safety is more important than anything in the iGaming industry.

Check the Bonus Terms

As Baccarat bonuses are some of your major concerns, you should be careful about the terms and conditions. Just simply read the T&C page before you commit any real money.

Online Payment Methods

If you have to apply for a new credit card or open a new bank account just for the sake of playing Baccarat, it doesn’t sound very efficient. So, check the payment methods of an online casino before it’s too late.