Enjoy playing baccarat, but want to take your bankroll further?
You’ve come to the right place, as no commission baccarat will do just that.
But how does this variation of the game achieve better rewards? And does it always do so?
In this guide, you’ll find the answer to these questions and understand if no commission is for you.
What is No Commission Baccarat?
If you know how to play baccarat, No Commission (or Commission Free) Baccarat will be second nature. It’s a banker vs. player variation of baccarat that follows the standard ruleset. Make a play on either hand and see who wins. The game can end in one of three ways: a win for the banker or player, or a “push” or tie, when all plays are returned.
You might notice surface-level similarities with blackjack. However, baccarat plays quite differently:
- The role of banker passes clockwise to the next player when a player’s hand wins
- The winning hand is determined by single digits (max. 9)
You don’t have to take into account the 5% commission on wins for the banker’s hand in No Commission Baccarat. The exception is when the banker wins with a hand worth 6, since that has a different reward. We’ll cover that in the next section. For now, we come to baccarat’s fondness for certain numbers. A hand worth 8 or 9 is called a “natural”.
The game has a Third Card Rule that affects numbers between 0 and 5. We’ll talk more about that later.
The only thing you need to remember now is that many actions in baccarat are fixed. This makes baccarat particularly luck-driven, with less decision-making or basic strategy charts you can rely on.
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How to Play No Commission Baccarat
We should be in familiar territory by now if you’ve played baccarat before. Let’s quickly go over how to play No Commission Baccarat at McLuck.com.
The game is usually played with eight decks in a dealer’s “shoe”. As mentioned, this passes from player to player. Baccarat has its own way of valuing its cards. Only 2-9 have their face value. An ace is worth 1, while 10s and all face cards are worth zero. Join a table by making a play on the banker or the player.
Initially, the game is played with two cards in the player’s hand and two cards in the banker’s hand. The value of each hand is calculated according to the rules above. If any hand creeps into double-digits, simply remove the first number from the tally. This way, a 13 becomes a 3 and a 15 becomes a 5. Once that’s done, the Third Card Rule determines whether either hand gets another card.
The third Card Rule says whether a hand can draw or stand. For example, a player’s hand of 5 or less gets a third card, but stands on a 6 or 7. These rules affect the banker, too. The winner of the game is the player with the highest value hand.
Winnings work a little differently in No Commission Baccarat. If the banker wins with a hand of 6, only half the play will be paid (1:2). Wins are otherwise paid at 1:1 (banker), 1:1 (player), and 8:1 (tie). You can see the difference the no commission rule makes in the banker’s hand. Baccarat normally rewards 0.95:1.
Example Of No Commission Baccarat
Here’s a step-by-step overview of a standard No Commission Baccarat game:
- Each person at the table makes a play on the player’s hand, the banker’s, or the tie.
- Two cards are dealt to each participant.
- The total of each hand is calculated. The Third Card rule determines whether any additional cards are dealt. Any “natural” hands win instantly.
- The hand with the highest score wins.
- Prizes are awarded, and the role of banker passes around the table if a player’s hand wins.
Side Plays
At the beginning of this guide, we discussed how game creators make their baccarat tables look unique. This is where side plays come in. A side play is a play on whether a certain thing will happen in the game. It is placed separately from the player/banker/tie play, and might focus on the appearance of certain two or three-card hands.
A few common side plays in baccarat are 4-5-6, which estimates the number of cards a hand will end up with – four, five, or six. Other examples include an all-red or all-black hand.
No Commission Baccarat has a special side play called Super 6. This variant of the insurance play is just a riff on the banker winning with a 6. The difference is that it rewards 15:1. Side plays add variety to baccarat without changing the core rules.
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Wrap Up
No Commission Baccarat offers only a tiny tweak on baccarat’s original rules. Its lack of a commission does come with an obvious downside, that of the reduced reward on a banker 6 hand.
While it is possible to counteract this with the Super 6 play, the likelihood of it coming off is quite low. It increases the house edge, the casino’s natural advantage over the player, to 7% from around 1%. Try it today at McLuck social casino!
Not sure about this baccarat variation? Explore more social casino guides at McLuck blog and find your favourite game.
