When you come right down to the nitty-gritty, once the baccarat cards are dealt, the hand is fete complete, and the die is cast.  Your win or loss has already been determined.  The object of the game is to come closer to the number 9 than the banker.  As the player, you need to know card values.  The card numbers 2 through 9 are face valued, an Ace counts as a 1 and a 10 card and picture cards have no value at all.  Get it, so far? 
 
Let’s draw some cards so you know what we’re talking about.  Suppose you are dealt a 6 and a King.  What’s your total?  The correct answer is 6 because 6+ zero = 6.  Let’s try another one.  How about if you are dealt a 7 and an 8?  Oops!  I forgot to tell you that any hand over a 9 subtracts 10 from the total.

Let’s try the same hand again.  The card values 8+7=15.  We then must subtract 10 from that total, and your hand is a 5.

You might as well be aware of the fact that a player has specified actions to take depending on the two card total.  Follow this now— if the total is 8 or 9, the player has a “natural” and the banker is not allowed to draw any cards.  If the player has a 6 or 7, he must stand with that hand.  However, if the totals are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 10, the player must draw another card.  The 10 has a numerical value of zero, so the two numbers are equal according to the baccarat rules.

If we play a hand or two, you’ll catch on.  It’s easy!  The player has 4 and the banker 8.  Who wins?  The banker wins.  If the player has 3 and the banker has 4.  Both draw another card and the player and banker draw a 4 and 3 respectively.  Who wins?  Neither party wins, and the game is declared a tie.

If your strong suit is math, you may be interested to know that the house has a 1.24% edge over the player.  So, my suggestion is do not linger at the baccarat table, or the odds may go against you.  Trust me on this one!