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Key Baccarat Terms Every Player Should Know

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Last Update: 25/11/2020

Baccarat is one of the most popular games to play at both land-based casinos and online casinos. While it is an easy game to learn, its many variants are full of distinctive and unique terms that may sound confusing to the inexperienced ear. That’s why we’ve created the ultimate baccarat terms, slang and expressions glossary, so that anyone – inexperienced or not, can get to grips with the game of baccarat much faster. The glossary will also include specific baccarat terms from popular variants such as Chinese, French and Asian baccarat.

Baccarat Glossary of Key Terms

There are many different uses for a baccarat game terms guide. It offers beginner players a very straight forward and easy-to-follow list, which they can keep with them as they start to play the game. That said, if you really are an inexperienced player, I would highly recommend you check out my dedicated baccarat rules page before diving deep into this glossary of baccarat terms. If you’ve played many hands before and are just looking to refresh your memory, then by all means, bookmark this page.

Glossary
    • Action The standard term describing the total amount of money wagered by a player during a game.
    • Baccarat The worst hand in the game of Baccarat, the hand has a value of zero.
    • Banco A term sometimes used to refer to the banker during a game of baccarat.
    • Banco Prime Player nearest the dealer can match the wager by the bank if multiple players have called banco.
    • Banker/Player Bet These are terms that describe a bet placed on the dealer or the player.
    • Banque A Baccarat version played at two conjoined tables with the banker in the middle.
    • Burning The process of discarding the top 3-6 cards after shuffling before the start of play.
    • Caller The croupier/dealer at the baccarat table who is in charge of the playing cards.
    • Card Counting A popular baccarat strategy in which players count cards to predict the probability of winning.
    • Carte The French term used to get a card from the dealer. Occasionally used in Baccarat.
    • Chemin De Fer Version of baccarat where one player is part of the bank. They deal cards and take wagers.
    • Cheval French for across. A “cheval” bet is won if both active players win the bets.
    • Commission This describes a small fee that the house collects upon winning bets. Similar to Roulette.
    • Coup  A French word that describes a round of baccarat of a player and a dealer’s hand.
    • Croupier Another word for a dealer or person who oversees betting at a casino table game.
    • Cut Cutting the cards is when a player splits a card deck in during the shuffling process.
    • Cut Card A special plastic card (usually about the size of a playing card) used for cutting the deck.
    • Credits Credits act as money when playing a virtual version of baccarat, they are converted into cash when withdrawing.
    • Dealer A dealer can be either a player or a casino staff employee. They’re in charge of dealing cards.
    • Deux Tableau This is just another name referring to the Baccarat en Banque game and means two tables.
    • Discard Tray Discard trays are where a dealer places burned cards before handing out cards.
    • Down Card A face down card, sometimes called a hole card. Also used in blackjack.
    • Dragon Bonus A popular side bet when players bet on Player or Banker and also wager on differential between hands.
    • Edge Sorting Examining cards to try and guess which ones are going to be dealt by the dealer.
    • Face Cards Face cards are any Jack, Queen, or King. Sometimes an Ace is considered a face.
    • Fading Fading is just another term used to describe the action of placing bets.
    • Flat Bet Wagering a flat or similar bet amount no matter if the hand is a winning or a losing one.
    • Hand A hand is the cards that are dealt during one playing round of baccarat.
    • High Roller A high roller refers to a player who makes large money, risky bets at casinos.
    • House Edge This term refers to the edge the casino has over the player. Usually a percentage.
    • Ladderman This is the casino employee who watches over a baccarat game at a casino.
    • La Grande This is the best hand in baccarat and is a natural nine. (The big one, French)
    • La Petite This French term refers to the natural eight hand. (The little one, French)
    • Loss Bet A loss bet, is a wager made against the bank or casino. A bet that the banker will lose.
    • Match Play Match play promotions in which a casino doubles the payout of your baccarat win.
    • Marker A marker is a piece of paper a player signs in order to play with borrowed money.
    • Mini Baccarat A smaller version of the game, which played a key role in growing baccarat’s popularity.
    • Monkey Monkey is a colloquial term used for any face card. (eg. Jack, Queen, King)
    • Muck A muck refers to eight decks of cards (52 cards). Used when shuffling before a game.
    • Natural A natural refers to the best hands in the game. They add up to eight and nine.
    • Palette This is a long, stick-like-tool croupiers use to move cards and chips on a table.
    • Pass A pass is the term sometimes used when referring to a win in a baccarat game.
    • Punter Punter sometimes refers to a person playing a casino game, but usually refers to a sports better.
    • Punto Banco Punto Banco is a popular Baccarat variation and a synonym for the game worldwide. Means player bank.
    • Push This is a tie. Neither a player nor the dealer wins, and often the wagers are returned.
    • Railroad Also called Chemin de Fer. It is another popular version of the baccarat game played in France.
    • Rapid Baccarat A version of video baccarat that allows a dealer to deal numerous games at once.
    • Run This is a type of side bet, in which players can bet on a series of hands at one time.
    • Shills A slightly negative term describing a casino employee who lures players to a table.
    • Shoe This is a machine that deals cards automatically and erases human error from the dealer.
    • Shooter This is one of the numerous terms that one will see when playing baccarat that simply refers to the bank.
    • Shuffle Up When the dealer decides to shuffle the cards early, it’s referred to as a ‘Shuffle Up’.
    • Skill A common jibe in casino rooms when a player is enjoying a winning streak.
    • Standoff A standoff is initiated when the player and the banker both have the same value of cards.
    • Streak A common term in casino gaming. A streak refers to a run of consecutive results. For example, multiple wins or losses in a row.
    • Super Pan Nine  A popular variant played at casinos in Los Angeles. All players are dealt three face down cards and scored as normal in baccarat.
    • Table of Play The description of the different scores that allow players to take a third card.
    • Tie The Tie bet is one of the three central bets in the game. In the case of a tie, both the player and the banker will receive their wagers back. If you win on a tie, it can pay 8:1 or 9:1 depending on the variant you are playing.
    • Upcard As the name suggests, this is just what the croupiers refer to as the face up card on the board.
    • Vigorish The vigorish is the small percentage taken by the casino when a player wins.
    • VIP A common acronym for distinguishing a ‘Very Important Person’. In casino terms, this tends to be a high roller.

Frequently Asked Questions

Whilst creating this extensive list of baccarat terms, there were many different questions that came to my mind. In preparation for this page, I noted a few of them down in case any readers had similar thoughts. I hope that the tips above have been helpful, but if you have any queries that have been left unanswered, feel free to get in touch at contact@online-casinos.com. You can also find out more general information on the game by clicking to go to our online baccarat casinos guide.

Can you use the same baccarat terms in different countries?

For the most part, these baccarat terms are universal worldwide to my knowledge, however, it is not uncommon for native slangs or expressions to spontaneously evolve over time. For example, in Spanish, they say "Desangrarse", which literally means "to bleed out" and is the casino jargon for running out of credits or tokens.

What does it mean to be on a ‘Honeymoon Period’?

Although not specific to baccarat, a Honeymoon Period is another way of saying beginners' luck or a winning phase. Remember that you are not guaranteed to have beginner's luck and that there is nothing you can do to deduce what is most likely to happen next in baccarat. Check out our baccarat strategies, which are your best bet for reducing the house edge.

What is a big and small in baccarat?

In some games of baccarat, particularly live casino games, big and small side bets can be utilized by players. They are essentially just referring to the sum amount of cards that are dealt in a single round.

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Written bySimon RoseFirst published: 05/07/2019Last update: 12/08/2019
Average Rating: 4.8 93% of readers rates this page 5.0
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