When you think of baccarat, what comes to mind? James Bond sitting in his tuxedo at the baccarat table, and of course, the beautiful women around him. Baccarat was once the game of the elite, and the special baccarat table found in Canadian casinos can be a bit confusing for novice players. Would you feel comfortable at the baccarat table?
Here are the best online casino sites to play baccarat. You can play free games at all of these casinos before you decide to deposit and win money. All the baccarat sites we have chosen are perfect for Canadian players: you can play in Canadian dollars and use Canadian deposit methods.
Best online baccarat sites in Canada 2021
- Software providers Microgaming and Evolution Gaming help to offer an extremely enjoyable casino platform.
- Certified by eCogra and licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.
- Many progressive jackpot games available.
- Jackpot City is hugely entertaining, with the design or their site being very user friendly.
- Exciting, themed and rewarding games, including a large number of slot titles.
- Customer support available 24/7 through a variety of avenues.
If spinning slots and rolling dice doesn't suit you, it's time to take a look at baccarat. Baccarat is fast becoming one of the most popular online casino games, and not just because it allows you to become James Bond in the comfort of your own home.
The first step to getting started with baccarat is to open a casino account with a site like LeoVegas, Spin Casino or Jackpot City. Once that is done, simply make a deposit and start playing. Before you play, continue reading below to learn more about the basics of baccarat, where to play and strategies to tip the odds in your favor.
Mini Baccarat
While Baccarat is popular in physical casinos, the addition of Mini Baccarat has made it even more popular and accessible. Mini Baccarat is the same game as regular Baccarat, but it is played on a table half the size. The Mini Baccarat table is very similar to a blackjack table. The game table can accommodate a maximum of seven players, although some are designed to accommodate fewer people.
The only real difference between real and mini baccarat is that, in the mini version, only the dealer shuffles and deals. In regular (high-stakes) baccarat, players sometimes have to deal as well.
Play online baccarat
Online casinos offer both traditional baccarat and mini baccarat. When you play from your favorite online casino, you can always sit at the table. You never have to wait for a seat to open up for you, as you would in a real casino.
Online casinos also offer much lower stakes than real casinos.
Baccarat is a traditional high-stakes game. It is sometimes played with $100,000 stakes (yes, really), which can lead to a huge loss. Minimum bets in online games are usually around $1.
Mobile Baccarat
In addition to playing online casino baccarat, you can now choose to go mobile. Baccarat is one of the few table games available in mobile format at almost all online casinos.
You can play mobile baccarat for free or for real money. The games work well on all Apple and Android phones and tablets. For the best mobile version, we recommend LeoVegas.
Live dealer baccarat
Canadians and Quebecers can play live baccarat at Spin Casino. Playing live dealer games is an exciting way to get the real feel of a real casino without leaving the comfort of your home.
When you play a live game, you'll see a video feed from a real casino. The hands are dealt from a real deck of cards and everything works just like it does live, except you place your bets with a mouse.
The game that began life with tuxedoed players in a baccarat basement can now be played by pajama-clad players in their own homes, while they chat with the live casino dealer.
Punto Banco and other variants
In addition to regular Baccarat, there are three main variations of Baccarat in casinos. These are:
- Punto Banco
- Chemin de Fer
- Baccarat Banque
Punto Banco, or North American Baccarat, is a game of chance. The other two forms of baccarat require some skill.
Punto Banco
Punto Banco is the form of baccarat played in Canada. The object of the game is to get the closest total of nine points. The game can be played in both larger and smaller versions of Mini Baccarat.
In Punto Banco, players can play as the dealer. The game is based on luck, you make no decisions in the game other than to place your bet on the outcome of the hands. You can choose to place your bet on the banker's hand, the player's hand or the tied hand.
Chemin de Fer
Chemin de Fer allows players to take a more active role in the game of baccarat, including dealing and shuffling cards. Cards are normally dealt face down, whereas in Punto Banco they are face up. This is the only version of baccarat in which it is possible to choose to take an extra card.
Chemin de Fer can only be found in real high-stakes casinos. It is not available online.
Baccarat Banque (Banker's Baccarat)
Baccarat Banque is similar to Chemin de Fer. One player will remain the dealer for the entire round. The dealer chooses the dealer-banker by selecting either the first player to his right or the player who placed the highest bet. This version of baccarat is usually played with fewer decks than the other two versions of the game.
Like Chemin de Fer, Bank Baccarat is not available at online casinos.
Baccarat tips and strategy
Punto Banco, or American Baccarat, is a game of chance. Unlike Roulette, there is still some room to use good strategy and make smart betting choices.
Never bet on the draw.
It is better to place a bet on the Banker's or the Player's hand than on the draw. Placing a bet on a draw hand may pay more, but is much less likely to happen. The draw bet has a huge house edge of 15%, while the banker and player bets have an edge of just over 1%. If you're interested in looking at all the math behind this tip, check out this page on baccarat math.
Bet on the house (aka the banker).
The best bet in baccarat is to bet on the house (banker) hand. The house edge on this bet is less than 1%. This small advantage has led casinos to charge a rake, a commission, on the Banker's hand.
In the long run, the banker's bet remains the best bet. In the short term, however, there is no guarantee that the banker's hand will win, but you can enjoy predicting which hand to bet on.
Start by trying the free games.
Although playing baccarat is extremely simple, you may want to try out some free baccarat games before playing for real money. This will help you see exactly how the game is played before you place any real money bets.
Best baccarat game on the net
Guts has our favorite online version of Baccarat.
- It looks great and the sound effects are perfect.
- Bet small ($1) or big (up to $100)
- Fast game play, no waiting
- No download required: play in your browser
- Compatible with all mobile devices
Best site to play real money baccarat online
Even though Spin Casino has our favorite baccarat game, our top pick in 2021 is Jackpot City. Here are our reasons:
- Bacarra games are available on desktop computers and mobile devices, such as Android and Apple devices
- Plenty of options with nearly 700 games to choose from
- One of the best welcome bonuses for Canadian players
- CAD payment options, such as credit card, eCheck, iDebit and paysafecard
Of course, Jackpot City is not your only option. All of the sites listed in the best baccarat casinos at the top of this page can meet your needs.
