An eight can win a baccarat round without being a natural. In the round below, it also leaves a winning 100-unit Banker wager with 195 returned after commission. Reading the cards and reading the payment require different calculations.
Player and Banker are the names of two shared hands on the table. Each customer does not receive a personal hand to improve. A wager backs Player, Banker or an equal final result called Tie. MGM Resorts' GameSense guide explains these three outcomes and the automatic drawing procedure.
Our invented round selects ordinary commissioned baccarat under the Massachusetts Gaming Commission's Baccarat rules. The example uses an eight-deck manual shoe. Its payout rates are Player at 1:1, Banker at 1:1 less 5% commission, and Tie at 8:1. We choose collection of commission with the winning payment, an option in section 13(d). There are no promotional stakes or extra wagers.
The commission's active-rules register lists this document as Baccarat 4.11.2024. That is the source edition, not this article's publication date. The named rules govern Massachusetts, a US jurisdiction; the example does not establish another casino's paytable or availability in Britain. All sources were checked on 5 November 2026.
Five cards finish this round
Before dealing, three imaginary customers each place a 100-unit wager: one backs Banker, one Player and one Tie. These separate positions let us follow the same result through three settlements. They are teaching amounts, not quoted stakes or a recommendation to place several wagers together.
The initial deal alternates between the hands. The first card goes to Player, the second to Banker, the third to Player and the fourth to Banker. Section 9(c) of the Massachusetts rules sets that sequence.
Our cards arrive as follows: Player receives the two of spades; Banker receives the ace of spades; Player receives the five of hearts; Banker receives the three of diamonds. Player now has seven points and Banker four.
Aces count one, cards two through nine their printed value, and tens or picture cards zero. Add the values and retain the final digit. A king and seven therefore total seven, while nine and six total five. The Venetian's baccarat explanation also describes this scoring. Baccarat totals wrap back to zero rather than producing a bust.
Neither initial total is a natural eight or nine. Player's seven stands, keeping its two cards. When Player stands and neither hand is natural, section 11(c)(1) requires Banker to draw on a total of five or less. Banker on four must receive another card. Our next card is the four of clubs, taking Banker to eight.
The deal is complete: Player has two cards totalling seven, and Banker three totalling eight. The bettor does not choose to keep the four or request a different fifth card. Our third-card reference covers the longer branch in which Player draws and the value of that extra card affects Banker's action.
The winning eight arrived too late to be a natural
A natural is eight or nine from the initial two cards. Section 11(a) stops further dealing to both hands if either starts with one. Banker's eight here uses an ace, three and four, so it is an ordinary final eight. It still beats Player's seven.
If Player's first two cards had instead totalled eight, Banker would not have drawn from four. That separate hypothetical result would already have ended the drawing sequence. A displayed final eight alone cannot tell us whether another card should have appeared; the initial cards and their order matter.
At most one extra card can go to each hand under section 10(c). A low final score does not trigger a fourth card. Once the prescribed drawing ends, the higher point count determines which main hand wins, or equal totals produce a tie.
Three wagers read the same result differently
In our eight-against-seven round, the Banker wager wins. Its 100-unit stake earns 100 before commission. Five per cent of that profit is five, leaving 95 in profit. Returning the original stake brings the amount received to 195. This example divides exactly and assumes the charge is collected immediately.
| Separate 100-unit wager on this round | Amount returned, including stake | Net change |
|---|---|---|
| Banker | 195 | +95 |
| Player | 0 | -100 |
| Tie | 0 | -100 |
The losing Player and Tie wagers are collected. The 195 is not all profit: 100 belonged to the customer before the round. If Player had won instead under our selected 1:1 rate, its 100-unit stake would have produced 200 returned, including 100 in profit.
Other named versions can change the Banker payment. Our commission comparison covers those exceptions and deferred collection. The ordinary commissioned calculation above should not be carried into a no-commission game merely because both use similar cards.
A tied round pays a different wager
Equal final totals return the main Player and Banker stakes under section 8. Each 100-unit main stake would come back as 100, with no profit. A separate 100-unit Tie wager at our chosen 8:1 rate would earn 800 and return 900 altogether.
The Massachusetts rule permits Tie odds of at least 8:1; eight is our selected rate. The Venetian page describes its Tie payment as 9 for 1. That wording includes the original stake and corresponds to eight in profit for one staked. It does not mean 9:1 profit. An actual table's own payout wording still needs checking.
Extra wagers have their own conditions. Our tie-settlement article examines why a returned main stake need not protect a separate bonus wager. No such bonus appears in this round.
The five cards in our example establish an eight-seven Banker win. The remaining difference between 200 and 195 is the five-unit commission, charged on the winnings rather than the returned stake.
