Play Baccarat Online - Best Baccarat Casinos in Canada 2025

With a history dating back to the 1500s, baccarat is one of the oldest casino games in the world. It’s still widely popular today, especially at online casinos. This page will tell you all about online baccarat. We’ll cover how to play baccarat online, where to play, and everything else you need to know before you get started.

Almost all the best online casinos in Canada will have baccarat available. Some have more types of baccarat, better bonuses, and more live casino options.

We have analysed all of these potential factors to bring you this list of our top five baccarat casinos in Canada.

A game like baccarat that has been around for as long as it has is bound to have many variations. We can’t cover them all here, but here are the most popular types that you should expect to see when playing at a baccarat online casino.

Punto Banco

When you hear someone say baccarat in Canada, there is a very good chance they are talking about Punto Banco. It is by far the most common type of baccarat played in North America. It is the only form of baccarat most players know.

The rules are simple. The dealer/banker (Banco) and the player (punto) get two cards each. The cards’ values are combined and whoever is closest to 9 wins. 

Chemin de fer

This French variant on baccarat is James Bond’s favourite type of the game, but you won’t find it at many online casinos since you actually play against other players instead of the dealer.

However, many top live casinos have Chemin de fer available. Leading software provider Evolution Gaming, has a version of Chemin de fer that is available at many top baccarat sites.

Mini baccarat

The “mini” in Mini Baccarat comes from the fact that there are seven players instead of 14. The minimum wager amount is also typically lower and the dealer does not change.

Mini baccarat is extremely popular online and in-person due to its fast-paced nature and low-stakes betting options compared to traditional Punto Banco baccarat.

Baccarat Banque 

Like Chemin de fer, Baccarat Banque is another form of baccarat where the players work together. In this variation though, players take turns being the banker.

Because there is no set dealer/banker, this is another type of baccarat that is hard to come by when playing baccarat online.

European baccarat

Unlike Punto Banco, which is popular in the United States and Canada, European baccarat is a bit more complicated. Instead of the dealer automatically drawing a third card when the value of their hand is 5 or lower, the player has the option to stand or draw when the value of their hand is exactly 5.

After the player has made their decision, the dealer will then draw their third card. This makes European baccarat more similar to blackjack than a lot of the other popular types of baccarat covered in this guide.

Dragon Tiger

While other types of baccarat still rely on the same principle of being closest to 9, Dragon Tiger turns things completely on its head.

Instead of getting two cards and shooting for a combined value closest to 9, in Dragon Tiger, players get one card and most of the action is on side bets relating to that card.

For example, Big/Small side bets are wagers on whether a player (tiger) or dealer (dragon) will have a card over or under 7. You can also wager on whether the card will be odd or even, red or black, and the suit of the card.

If you have gotten this far, you probably want to know how to play online baccarat. Well, don’t worry. Learning how to play is very easy and we will make things as clear as possible for you in this section.

To start, you should know that baccarat is a very simple game. It would not have thrived for so long if it was not simple.

You will get two cards and add them up. If you can do that and count to nine, you can play baccarat.

Online baccarat has taken the simplicity of baccarat to the next level. Since it is such a simple and slow-paced game, baccarat is an ideal game for casual players.

More intense and faster-paced versions of the game also make it a go-to choice for many experienced online casino pros.

Now that you know the very high-level basics and why baccarat is so popular, let’s go over some of the key terms that you should know.

Baccarat Vocabulary

• Dealer – The person who draws and deals the cards. This could also be the players themselves, who take turns as dealers in some types of baccarat.
• Banker – The dealer for any given hand. A.K.A. the Banco.
• Cut – When the deck is divided in half after it has been shuffled.
• Face cards – Jacks, Queens, and Kings of any suit.
• Player – All other participants in the game besides the dealer. A.K.A. the Punto.
• Pass – A win.
• Natural Win – When the points total is 8 or 9 for either the Player or the Banker after the first two cards are dealt. A hand is over and bets are paid when a natural win occurs.

How to play step by step

1. Choose your table or baccarat game to play
2. Place your wagers on the player, banker, and/or tie.
3. The dealer draws two cards each for the player and the dealer.
4. The dealer announces the combined hands. Closest hand to 9 wins.
5. If either the banker or player has a hand of under 5, the dealer will draw a third card. Then, the hands will be compared to determine a winner.

Card Values & Hand Rankings

The goal of baccarat is to have a hand with a combined value as close to 9 as possible. If you go over 9, you subtract 10 from your hand, and if your combined hand is worth less than five, you draw a third card.

Because counting is so important in baccarat, you should need to understand how cards are valued. Here is the corresponding value for each number/rank in a standard deck of playing cards:

• Face Cards (Kings, Queens, Jacks) are worth 0.
• 10 cards are worth 0.
• 2-9 are worth the value of the rank of the card (e.g., Twos are worth 2, threes are worth 3, etc.).
• Aces are worth 1.

Common Bets in Online Baccarat Games

There are five main bets available when you play baccarat online:

• Player Bet – A wager on the player to have a hand closer to 9 than the banker.
• Banker Bet – A wager on the banker to have a hand closer to 9 than the player.
• Tie – A wager that the player and the banker’s hands will have the same exact value.
• Player pair – A wager on the player to receive two identical cards during the first deal (e.g., two fives or two Kings).
• Banker pair – A wager on the banker to receive two identical cards during the first deal (e.g., two twos or two Queens).

Besides banker/player pair side bets, Dragon 7 and Panda 8 wagers are also very popular:

• Dragon 7 – A wager on the banker to win with a total of exactly 7 from three cards.
• Panda 8 – A wager on the player to win with a total of exactly 8 from three cards.

Baccarat table layout

Baccarat tables change slightly depending on the type of baccarat you are playing. Mini baccarat, for example, has places for just 7 players. Standard baccarat though allows for up to 14.

Whichever variant you are playing though, the table will look pretty much the same.

At each place in the table, you will see five betting areas to designate your wagers. They will clearly be labelled with “Player”, “Banker”, “Player Pair”, “Tie”, and “Banker Pair”.

The “Player” field is the largest betting box and the one closest to you, while “Player Pair”, “Tie”, and “Banker Pair” are significantly smaller at the top of the overall betting area.

The “Banker” box sits between “Player” and the three smaller boxes. You will also find an encircled “C” in the banker field for the banker’s commission.

Some types of baccarat have additional betting boxes for more side bets, like the Dragon 7 and Panda 8 bets covered above.

In front of the dealer and above the betting area are where the cards are dealt. This area is split into two halves, one labelled “Banker” and the other “Player”.

The dealer will pull two cards from the Shoe for themselves to put in the Banker section, while the Player’s two cards go into the Player’s section.

How to understand the payouts

How much money you win playing online baccarat depends on who you have bet on. All five baccarat wagers payout differently and the banker takes a commission on all winning banker bets:

• Player Bet pays out 1:1
• Banker Bet pays out 1:1 (minus a 5% commission) 
• Tie pays out 8:1
• Player pair pays out 11:1
• Banker pair pays out 11:1 (minus a 5% commission)

Online casinos get their games from software providers. Almost all the biggest software providers have at least one baccarat game as a part of their collection.

With that being said, there are a handful of casino software providers who do baccarat better than most.

Microgaming, for example, created a basic version of baccarat back in 1999 shortly after the company was founded. The game has been updated since, but it’s still a great option for players looking to play classic baccarat from a trusted software provider.

Play’N Go and Evolution Gaming are on the other extreme. These software providers have consistently churned out new and exciting baccarat titles, such as Speed Baccarat, XXXtreme Lightning Baccarat, and Prosperity Tree Baccarat.

Evolution is also one of the leading software providers for live baccarat, along with Playtech. If a live casino has baccarat available, there is a very high chance that either Evolution and Playtech has supplied the games.

Going down to your local casino or playing at home alone on your PC are no longer your only options when you want to play baccarat.

Casino apps allow you to play baccarat games from anywhere that you have a good internet connection. This kind of convenience is a game-changer, but it doesn’t come without drawbacks.

Mobile casinos often have less games than the full desktop baccarat sites. They also can not be great for players who like the bigger screen experience that playing online baccarat on PC offers.

On the other hand, casinos sometimes offer exclusive promos to mobile players. Apps also allow you to set notifications to make sure you don’t miss out on offers and tournaments.

Most real money casinos have a demo mode for their single-player slots and table games that allow you to play for free. Many even allow you to demo games before you even create your account. 

Free games can be a great way to help you get used to an online casino’s user interface. It’s also a good way to learn how to play a new game, like if you are trying out a different type of baccarat than traditional baccarat that you might be already familiar with. 

The biggest benefit to free games though is obviously that it does not cost any money. However, this is also one of the downsides. 

Because you are not wagering anything, you cannot win real money playing free baccarat. Real money baccarat is the only way to win cash prizes at online casinos in Canada. 

Another major drawback to free baccarat vs real money baccarat are the limits on free games. For example, some sites cap how many credits you have available in demo mode and almost no live casinos have free games.

Other sites only offer demo mode for certain games, which means that one type of baccarat might be free while another will only be available as a real money game. 

Overall though, even with the limits, free baccarat is a great option that we recommend you take advantage of before you start wagering real money

Before we get into the best tips and strategies for online baccarat, you should know that baccarat is purely a game of luck. The house always is favoured to win and there is no guaranteed way to shift the odds in your favour. 

With that out of the way, here are some common tactics that baccarat players use to try to take their game to the next level:

Always Back the Banker

With the inclusion of ties, the odds of baccarat are set in the bankers favour. In pure math terms, the banker always has a better chance of winning compared to the player.

Because of this, some players’ strategy is to always bet on the banker. It’s not a sure-fire way to win, but in the long run, it can help you limit your losses. 

James Bond Strategy

In case you didn’t know, Ian Fleming wrote baccarat to be James Bond’s favourite game. It’s so associated with the fictional spy that one of the most popular strategies is named after him. 

Like backing the banker, the James Bond baccarat strategy tries to use math to the players advantage. Instead of betting on the safe option, players who use this strategy spread out their wagers as follows:

• 70% on the banker
• 25% on the player
• 5% on a tie

Tips for playing Baccarat Online

Everyone has their own superstitions and strategies for playing baccarat online. None will guarantee that you win, but there are some things you can do to limit your losses. 

The first is to manage your bankroll. Keep track of how much you are spending and keep your wagers down to a manageable level. Don’t ever bet more than you are willing to lose and never radically increase your wagers to chase losses. 

A good way to avoid chasing losses is to remember that the game is random. Keeping this in your head while you play can help you avoid making emotional decisions when you are in the midst of a great run or a cold streak. 

Finally, don’t be afraid to start slow. Whether you are a new or experienced player, starting out a session with small wagers can help ensure that you don’t burn through your bankroll before you’ve had a chance to really play.

Casino bonuses are a great way to get the most value for your money when playing baccarat online. 

The good news is that you will have plenty of chances to earn bonus credits at baccarat casinos. The bad news is that satisfying bonus wagering requirements is difficult when you just play baccarat. 

If you didn’t know, wagering requirements are the amount you have to bet before you can withdraw winnings earned from bonus credits. 

For example, if you claim $1.00 from a bonus that has a 20x wagering requirement, you will have to wager $200 to withdraw your winnings. However, not all games contribute to wagering requirements equally. 

Baccarat games typically contribute just 10% to bonus wagering requirements. That means just $0.10 of every dollar you wager playing baccarat counts towards the wagering requirement. 

Thankfully, bonuses are not mandatory, so you don’t have to worry about wagering requirements if you don’t want to. With that being said, you shouldn’t let them put you off claiming casino bonuses for baccarat. 

Here are some of the types of casino bonuses you can claim now:

Welcome Bonuses

All top baccarat casinos will give you a welcome bonus for signing up. Some will match all or a portion of your first deposit. Others will give you a set amount of bonus credits just for signing up in the form of no deposit bonuses.

Cashback Bonuses

No one likes to lose money playing baccarat online, but when you do, cashback bonuses give you the chance to get a portion of your losses back as bonus credits. 

Live Casino Bonuses

Many top online casinos offer welcome bonuses and existing customer promos specifically for live casino players. These offers can be some of the most valuable for live baccarat players, so look out for them if you prefer live games over single player options.

Now that you know all about baccarat casinos and how to play baccarat online, let’s go over how you should choose where to play. 

The very first thing you should do is assess what’s important to you. Every online casino has its own strengths and weaknesses, but those factors may not be that important to you personally. 

For example, if you only ever use Visa/Mastercard as your casino payment method, Interac casinos might not interest you. On the other hand, if you exclusively use Bitcoin, you are going to want to play at crypto casinos. 

You can apply this same framework to every other factor used to assess baccarat online casinos, such as:

• Safety and security
• Bonuses and promotions
• Available games
• Game variety
• Banking options
• Withdrawal speeds
• Customer support

Online Baccarat Casino sites to Avoid

You should only play baccarat with sites that you can trust. It’s easy enough to lose money gambling online. You don’t also need someone trying to scam you. 

Always do your research and read the fine print carefully before giving any online casino your money.

If you aren’t sure how to research an online casino, our site is a good place to start. We have comprehensive reviews of all the best and the worst casinos in Canada to help you know which are safe and which are scams.

If our experts haven’t covered a casino you are interested in yet, here are some red flags you should look out for:

• No licensing information
• Slow payouts
• Unfair games
• Evasive customer support
• Poor player reviews