How to play
Chemin de Fer is the baccarat of 19th-century French casinos, the version you see in old films with players passing the shoe around a long table. Modern Punto Banco turned it into a game with no decisions at all. This table keeps the original feel: you hold your own hand against the bank, and on one total you choose what happens next.
Card values. Aces are 1, cards 2 to 9 are worth their number, and 10s, Jacks, Queens and Kings are worth 0. A hand counts only its last digit, so 8 + 7 = 15 counts as 5, and 9 + K is 9. The best possible total is 9.
A round:
- Choose a chip (20, 100 or 500) and bet on Your hand, on Tie, or both. Bets go in steps of 20, from 20 to 1,000 per spot.
- Press Deal. You and the bank get two cards each. Yours are face up; the bank’s stay face down.
- If either side has 8 or 9 on two cards, that’s a natural: no one draws and the hands are compared.
- Otherwise your hand plays:
- total 0 to 4 → you draw a third card automatically;
- total 6 or 7 → you stand automatically;
- total 5 → the game stops and asks. Press Draw a card or Stand.
- The bank’s cards flip over and it draws or stands by a fixed table. Closest to 9 wins.
Clear takes your chips back before the deal; Rebet repeats the last bet. A strip of recent results (Y for you, B for the bank, T for a tie) sits at the top, and the six-deck shoe is replaced with a fresh one when it runs low.
Payouts
| Bet | Wins when | Pays |
|---|---|---|
| Your hand | your total beats the bank’s | 1 to 1, no commission; returned on a tie |
| Tie | both totals are equal | 8 to 1 |
How the bank draws
The bank has no choices. If you stood (on 5, 6 or 7, or because you never drew), the bank draws on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7. If you drew a third card, the bank looks at that card’s value:
| Bank total | Bank draws if your third card is |
|---|---|
| 0, 1, 2 | anything |
| 3 | anything except 8 |
| 4 | 2 to 7 |
| 5 | 4 to 7 |
| 6 | 6 or 7 |
| 7 | never draws |
It’s the same table Punto Banco uses for its Banker hand, so if you know Baccarat, the bank’s behaviour will look familiar.
Draw or stand on 5?
This is the whole strategy question, and it has an exact answer. We counted every possible deal from six decks for both choices:
| Your choice on 5 | House edge on Your hand |
|---|---|
| Always draw | 1.24% |
| Always stand | 1.52% |
| Tie bet (with drawing on 5) | 14.44% |
Draw. Standing on 5 costs you about 0.29% extra. A total of 5 loses to a lot of bank hands, and when you stand, the bank simply draws on 5 or less and stands on 6 or 7. When you draw, you can improve, and your third card also changes how the bank plays its own hand. A small hint under the buttons points this out every time.
One useful detail: the game only asks when the bank does not have a natural. If you’re being offered the choice, you already know the bank’s two cards don’t total 8 or 9.
Strategy
Draw on 5 every time. It’s the only decision in the game and the better choice is always the same. Standing now and then for variety just costs you.
Leave the tie bet alone. It pays 8 to 1, but at a 14.44% edge it costs about 14 credits per 100 wagered, more than ten times the hand bet.
No commission is the good news. Punto Banco tables usually take a commission on Banker wins, because that hand wins slightly more often. Here your hand pays the full 1 to 1, and the edge is still only 1.24% if you play 5 correctly.
The results strip doesn’t forecast. Six decks, reshuffled when low, carry no streak information you can use.
Size bets for the long run. With an edge near 1%, a steady stake lasts a long time. Doubling up after losses is what drains credits fast.
If you enjoy Chemin de Fer, try Chō-han or Chuck-a-luck next.
