High-limit baccarat rooms have a ritual: the player with the biggest bet gets the cards face down and bends them up slowly, a corner at a time, before turning them over. That is the squeeze. This table brings it to your screen. The rules underneath are ordinary Punto Banco with an eight-deck shoe, plus two Dragon Bonus side bets that pay by how much a hand wins. If you have never played baccarat, the plain Baccarat page walks through the drawing table in detail; this page focuses on what is different here.
How to play
Bets. Choose a chip (20, 100 or 500) and tap a spot. There are five: Player, Banker and Tie in the middle, with Player Dragon and Banker Dragon beside them. Each spot accepts up to 1,000 credits in steps of 20. Clear takes your chips back, Rebet copies the last round’s bets, and Deal sends out the cards.
Squeezing. The first four cards land face down, two for Player and two for Banker. Drag a card upward and its corner peels back, showing a little more of the pips the further you pull. Let go partway and it stays half-open; tap it, or drag far enough, and it flips. Once all four are open, any third cards arrive, also face down, for you to squeeze in turn. Reveal all flips everything at once if you would rather skip the drama.
One thing to know: the result is fixed the moment you press Deal. The squeeze is a display, not a decision. You cannot change which card comes or whether a third card is drawn, and peeling slowly does not alter anything. It just lets you find out the way baccarat players have enjoyed finding out for decades.
Hand values in brief. Tens and face cards are 0, aces are 1, the rest count their number, and only the last digit of the total matters. Eight or nine on two cards is a natural and ends the drawing. Otherwise Player draws on 0 to 5, and Banker draws according to the fixed third-card table.
Payouts and house edge
| Bet | Pays | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| Player | 1 to 1 | 1.24% |
| Banker | 0.95 to 1 (5% commission) | 1.06% |
| Tie | 8 to 1 | 14.36% |
| Player Dragon | see bonus table | 2.65% |
| Banker Dragon | see bonus table | 9.37% |
A tie returns Player and Banker bets. All five edges are computed exactly for eight decks in the game’s tests.
The Dragon Bonus
A Dragon bet backs one side, but instead of simply winning or losing, it pays more for a bigger margin.
| Your side… | Dragon pays |
|---|---|
| wins with a natural | 1 to 1 |
| ties on naturals (both sides 8 or 9 on two cards) | bet returned |
| wins by 9 points (not a natural) | 30 to 1 |
| wins by 8 | 10 to 1 |
| wins by 7 | 6 to 1 |
| wins by 6 | 4 to 1 |
| wins by 5 | 2 to 1 |
| wins by 4 | 1 to 1 |
| wins by 1 to 3, loses, or ties without naturals | loses |
Both Dragon spots use the same pay table, yet their edges are far apart. Banker wins more hands overall, but much of that extra winning comes from close hands, where the third-card table lets Banker edge past the Player by a point or two. A win by three points or less loses a Dragon bet. The exact count puts Player Dragon at 2.65% and Banker Dragon at 9.37%.
Strategy
Main bets first. Banker (1.06%) and Player (1.24%) are still the best value at this table. The squeeze adds tension, not odds.
If you want a side bet, choose Player Dragon. Its edge is lower than Tie by a wide margin and lower than Banker Dragon by almost seven points. It is the only extra bet here worth considering for regular play.
Watch the swings. Dragon bets lose most of the time and occasionally pay 10 or 30 to 1. Keep them small relative to your main bet if you want your balance to last.
Ignore the bead road. The line of P, B and T marks shows recent winners. Past results have no effect on the next deal from a shuffled shoe, which is replaced once fewer than 16 cards remain.
Squeeze for fun, then speed up. When you just want to play quickly, Reveal all opens every card in order.
If you enjoy Baccarat Squeeze, try Badugi or Balloon Pump next.
