In ordinary baccarat you place a bet and watch; there is nothing to decide. First Look Baccarat gives you one real choice. After you bet, the four opening cards are dealt and Player’s two cards are turned face up while Banker’s stay hidden. Now you can keep your bet as it is or double it, before the rest of the hand plays out. The price for that look is a 20% fee on your Player and Banker bets. The idea comes from live-casino “peek” tables; the name and the exact rules here are our own.
How to play
Bets. Chips come in 20, 100 and 500. The spots are Player (pays 1 to 1), Tie (8 to 1) and Banker (0.95 to 1), each up to 1,000 credits in steps of 20. Player and Banker bets cost an extra 20% fee: a 100 bet costs 120, and the message line shows it (“Total bet: 100 (+20 fee)”). The fee is never returned. Tie bets have no fee.
The first look. Press Deal. Four cards come out: Player’s two face up, Banker’s two face down. Under the table the game shows the exact chances for these two cards (counted for a full eight-deck shoe), for example “Player wins 57% · Banker 28% · Tie 14%”. Then choose:
- Keep: your bets stay as they are.
- Double (+amount): your Player and Banker bets are doubled. The extra stake has no fee. Tie bets are not doubled.
If you only bet on Tie, there is no decision and the hand plays straight through.
The rest of the hand. Banker’s cards turn over and the standard rules finish the hand: 8 or 9 is a natural and nobody draws; otherwise Player draws on 0 to 5, and Banker follows the usual third-card chart. Picture cards and tens count 0, aces 1; only the last digit of a total counts. The full chart is on the Baccarat page.
When to double
The decision depends only on Player’s two-card total, and the rule is simple:
| Player shows | Double a Player bet? | Double a Banker bet? |
|---|---|---|
| 6, 7, 8 or 9 | Yes | No |
| 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 | No | Yes |
With 6 the edge is razor thin: Player wins about 43% and Banker about 43%, with ties taking the rest. Doubling a Player bet on 6 is still very slightly profitable. With 8 or 9 Player has a natural and wins about 81% or 90% of the time. With a low total Banker is the clear favourite: on 0, Banker wins about 65%.
The chances line on the table always tells you which side is ahead, so you never need to memorise the table.
What it costs
The fee is the house’s price for the look, so how much you lose depends on how well you use it. Counting every possible hand of an eight-deck shoe:
| How you play | House edge on Player | House edge on Banker |
|---|---|---|
| Double by the table above | 3.12% | 3.62% |
| Never double | 21.24% | 21.06% |
The edge is per credit of your first bet, fee included. Played well, the game costs about three times as much as classic Baccarat (1.24% on Player, 1.06% on Banker); the doubles are what you pay the fee for. If you never double, you pay 20% for nothing.
Tie bets carry no fee and are unchanged: 8 to 1, house edge 14.36%.
Strategy
Always use the double. Every hand, one side is the favourite. If your bet is on that side, double.
Bet one side only. A double raises your Player and Banker bets together, so if you back both sides the two raises cancel each other out, and you have paid the fee on both.
Player is the cheaper side here. With perfect doubling the Player bet costs 3.12% against Banker’s 3.62%, because Banker’s 5% commission also applies to the doubled stake.
Keep enough credits for the double. Doubling needs as many free credits as your Player and Banker bets. If you can’t cover it, the Double button is disabled and you can only keep.
If you enjoy First Look Baccarat, try Fish Hunter or Five Aces Poker next.
