Atlassino Academy · Baccarat · Lesson 6 of 7
The squeeze: who may touch the cards
At a mini-baccarat table the dealer handles every card; at a squeeze table the largest bets on Player and Banker hold the cards. Here is who gets the cards, what the holders may do, and what a slower table changes.
At one baccarat table the dealer turns over every card. At another table, two players hold the cards over the felt and open the cards slowly, a corner at a time. Who may touch the cards, and does handling the cards change anything?
The short answer
At a mini-baccarat table the dealer handles the cards, and players usually do not touch the cards at all. At a squeeze table the player with the largest bet on the Player hand is offered the Player cards, and the player with the largest bet on the Banker hand is offered the Banker cards. Under the rules for B.C. casinos those two players may squeeze the cards, may fold the cards where the house allows it, and may not crumple or rip the cards, and the cards stay over the table. Handling the cards changes nothing about which hand comes out ahead, because every card was dealt before anyone touched it. What changes is the pace: a squeeze table plays slower, and at the same bet a slower table costs less over an hour.
MINI-BACCARAT
DEALER
SQUEEZE TABLE
DEALER
- PB1
- BANKERPB2
- PB3
- PB4
- PLAYERPB5
- PB6
The same game at two tables. At the mini-baccarat table, the dealer has turned both hands face up, and no player has touched a card. At the squeeze table, the largest bet on Player, in seat 5, and the largest bet on Banker, in seat 2, each hold a hand’s two cards face down over the felt, and the dealer’s two boxes stay empty while the cards are out.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
I spent years as a floor supervisor, and some of my evenings were spent behind tables where the players held the cards. From the rail a squeeze looks like a decision: someone holds a card, takes their time, and the whole table waits. It is not a decision. The cards were dealt before anyone touched them.
Mini-baccarat and the big table
Ontario’s guide to the game sorts baccarat tables into three sizes, from the original big table down to the mini.
- Big, or MaxiUp to 14 playersthe original version of the game, at a large table
- Midi9 playersa smaller table, played much like the original
- Mini7 playersthe smallest version of the game
At a mini-baccarat table the dealer handles the cards: B.C.’s plain-words page says you are not dealt any cards at all, and guides in Alberta and Ontario say the same.
In this lesson, a big table means a table where the players handle the cards, and not a table of any particular size: no room in Canada whose pages we could read says it runs a big baccarat table of the size Ontario’s guide describes. Under the rules for B.C. casinos, midi-baccarat with squeeze play is the regular game with one change, that the players may touch or squeeze the cards, and it is approved only for segregated floor areas or private rooms.
| What is compared | Mini-baccarat | A squeeze table |
|---|---|---|
| Who handles the cards | The dealer, at most tables | The largest bet on Player and the largest bet on Banker; the dealer, when nobody takes the cards |
| How a hand is counted | The same at both tables: the last digit of the cards | |
| When a hand takes a third card | The same drawing rules at both tables | |
| What a bet costs, on average, at the same payouts | The same at both tables: Banker 1.06%, Player 1.24%, Tie 14.36% | |
| How fast the hands go | Faster | Slower |
The prices are for a table that takes a 5% commission on a Banker bet that is paid and pays 8 to 1 on a tie, with eight decks in the shoe; a table without commission is lesson 6.4.
Who is handed the cards at a squeeze table
At a squeeze table the cards are offered to two players before the deal: the player with the largest bet on the Player hand is offered the Player cards, and the player with the largest bet on the Banker hand is offered the Banker cards. If nobody has a bet on a hand, or nobody takes up the offer, that hand’s cards are dealt to the dealer.
The cards never leave the table. The players hold the cards over the table, where the dealer and the dealer’s supervisor can see the cards at all times. A player who bets on another player’s spot, which is called back betting, may not hold the cards at all, however large the bet.
MINI-BACCARAT
DEALER
SQUEEZE TABLE
DEALER
- PB1
- PB2
- PB3
- PB4BACK BET
- PB5
- PB6
The largest bet on Banker in this picture is the stack behind seat 4, placed on seat 4’s spot by a player standing at the table. That bet is a back bet, and a player who is back betting may not hold the cards, so the Banker cards do not go to the standing player, however large the bet.
Squeeze or fold, never crumple or rip
Under the rules for B.C. casinos, a player holding the cards may squeeze the cards or fold the cards, and may not crumple or rip the cards; whether folding is allowed is left to each casino as a house rule. B.C.’s plain-words page puts the same rule in the same four words.
- Squeeze the cardsAllowed
- Fold the cardsAllowed where the house allows it
- Crumple a cardNot allowed
- Rip a cardNot allowed
However slowly the cards are opened, every card was dealt from the shoe before anyone touched it, and squeezing the cards has no effect on which hand comes out ahead. The squeeze is a way of turning the cards over, and the drawing rules decide the rest of the hand exactly as at a mini table.
Other provinces and rooms, in their own words
| Where | Who handles the cards | What may be done with the cards |
|---|---|---|
| Ontario’s guide · Squeeze Baccarat | The largest Player bet and the largest Banker bet are given that hand’s cards, and see the cards before the dealer announces the hand to the other players. | Bending, folding and twisting the cards, which the guide calls the squeeze; every hand is thrown away at the end of the round |
| Alberta’s guide · Hand Held Baccarat | The mini-baccarat rules, except that the highest Player bet and the highest Banker bet may touch or hold the hand they bet on. | Usually squeezing, folding or bending the cards, under each house’s rules |
| Club Regent Casino · Squeeze Baccarat | The highest Player bet and the highest Banker bet may open the hands, and at most six cards are dealt in a round. The room also runs a baccarat game at which nobody but the dealer touches the cards. | Not described |
| Fallsview Casino Resort · mini and midi tables | The house deals the cards and the players turn the cards over; depending on the game, players may not have the option to touch the cards. | Not described; the drawing rules at the mini and midi tables are those of the traditional game |
Two rooms list a squeeze table among their games. Four rooms set baccarat apart in a high-limit room.
A squeeze table on the room’s list of games
- Casino Rama Resort
- Parq Casino
Baccarat in a high-limit room
- Casino Rama Resort
- River Cree Resort & Casino
- Parq Casino
- Deerfoot Inn & Casino
None of the four high-limit pages says whether its baccarat tables hand the cards to the players. Ontario’s guide says that some casinos let players touch the cards even at a mini table, often in higher-limit areas. A high-limit room is a place for larger bets, and who may touch the cards is a rule of each table.
A faster table, a dearer hour
Ontario’s guide compares the pace of the three tables in words. A mini table “is generally played at a much higher speed”; at a midi table the general expectation is for play “to move faster than at the Big tables”; and squeezing “makes each round of gameplay slower”.
None of those words is a number. No Canadian document we could read prints how many hands an hour a mini table or a squeeze table deals, and neither table gets a number here.
The price of one bet, times the bets placed in an hour, makes what the hour costs. The price of one bet is the same at both tables; a mini table places more bets in an hour, so at the same bet its hour costs more.
A lower minimum does not make a cheaper evening either. Ontario’s guide says that table minimums are often much lower at a mini table, and adds in the same sentence that the faster play could put more of your play budget on the table over time. Price of an hour does the multiplication for your own bet and your own pace.
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
A slower table is a cheaper hour, not a luckier one. Holding the cards changes nothing about the cards; the squeeze only slows the table down, and a slower table saves money only if your bet stays the same.
Decide the money and the time for the evening before you choose a table, and stop when either one is used up. Putting more down to get a loss back only buys more hands at the same price. If the money on the table starts to feel like money you need, the lines below are there for exactly that.
If it stops being fun
If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. 19+ in most of Canada; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. More on responsible gaming.
Practice: big table or mini
Every question shows the same two tables, each with its name above it: a mini-baccarat table and a squeeze table, with the bets drawn as stacks of chips and the cards where the cards lie. The table the question is about is outlined. The questions ask whether you may touch the cards, who is offered the cards, what the player holding the cards may do with the cards, and which table goes faster and what that changes.
Nothing is dealt or bet here. A taller stack of chips is a larger bet, and no stack stands for an amount. The answers follow the squeeze rules for B.C. casinos and, on pace, the words of Ontario’s guide; no number of hands an hour is used.
Lesson done
Review my mistakes (0)
Progress stays in this browser; nothing is sent anywhere.
The practice table needs JavaScript. Here is one question from it, with the answer.
Big table or mini
Mini-baccarat and a squeeze table · the squeeze rules for B.C. casinos
MINI-BACCARAT
DEALER
SQUEEZE TABLE
DEALER
- PB1
- PB2
- PB3
- PB4
- PB5
- PB6
Who is offered the Banker cards at the squeeze table?
- The player in seat 1, with the largest bet at the table Seat 1 has the largest bet at the table, but that bet is on the Player hand, and a bet on the Player hand brings the Player cards, not the Banker cards.
- The dealer, as at a mini table The dealer keeps a hand’s cards only when nobody with a bet on that hand takes the cards. Here two players have bets on Banker.
- The player in seat 4, with the largest bet on Banker Seat 4 has the largest bet on the Banker hand, and the Banker cards go to the largest bet on the Banker hand.
At a squeeze table the player with the largest bet on the Player hand is offered the Player cards, and the player with the largest bet on the Banker hand is offered the Banker cards.
Big table or mini
Mini-baccarat and a squeeze table · the squeeze rules for B.C. casinos
MINI-BACCARAT
DEALER
SQUEEZE TABLE
DEALER
- PB1
- BANKERPB2
- PB3
- PB4
- PLAYERPB5
- PB6
The player in seat 5 holds the Player cards and wants to fold one card to read it. Under the squeeze rules for B.C. casinos, may that player fold the card?
- Yes, always: folding is the same as squeezing Squeezing is allowed outright. Folding is allowed too, but whether a casino offers folding is left to that casino.
- Yes, where the house allows folding Folding is on the list of what a player holding the cards may do, and the rules leave the option of folding to each casino as a house rule.
- No: folding a card is the same as crumpling it The rules put folding and crumpling on opposite sides: folding is allowed where the house allows it, and crumpling is not allowed anywhere.
Under the squeeze rules for B.C. casinos, the player holding the cards may squeeze the cards or fold the cards, and may not crumple or rip the cards; whether folding is allowed is left to the house.
Every question in the practice run is worked out the same way: the bets and the cards in the picture are put through the squeeze rules, and the answer comes out of those rules, not out of anybody’s memory.
How the practice run works
Where the answers come from. Who is offered the cards is worked out when the page is built, from the stacks of chips in the picture: the largest bet on each hand, leaving out a bet placed on another player’s spot, and the dealer when a hand has no bet. What a player may do with the cards and where the cards stay come from the squeeze rules for B.C. casinos, and the build checks the practice run against the rule book’s own sentence. The wrong answers are named mistakes: the largest bet at the table taken for the largest bet on the hand, the cards shared among everyone on the hand, a back bet holding the cards, folding mistaken for crumpling, and the same rules taken to mean the same pace.
One strip. Every square on the strip is one question of this lesson, and all of the squares are there from the start. Your first answer fills the square it belongs to. This practice run has a single level, so nothing begins by itself after it: when the last square is full, the run is done. Practising a question you got wrong turns its cross into “fixed in practice” and does not change the count, because only first answers count.
Your progress stays in this browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.
Check yourself
Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks
Five quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.
Back to the question we opened with. At a mini-baccarat table the dealer handles the cards. At a squeeze table the largest bets on Player and on Banker are offered the cards, and may squeeze or fold the cards but never crumple or rip the cards. Handling the cards changes the pace of the table and nothing about the hand.
Where baccarat is played, and further reading
19+ (18+ in AB, MB, QC) · Play responsibly · the helplines are further up this page
Further reading
- How to play baccarat · BCLCB.C.’s plain-words page: who deals at a mini table, how the commission is taken, and the no-commission and squeeze tables.
- Game rules: Baccarat and EZ Baccarat · Loto-QuébecQuébec’s rules for both games on three pages, with the whole drawing chart written out as text.
- Baccarat variations and side wagers · OLG PlaySmartBig, midi and mini tables, the squeeze, and how no-commission games and side bets work.
How it’s worked out
Rules, pace, numbers, sources and hosts
Where this happens. Every table on this page is a live table in a room you can walk into, run by a dealer. Electronic baccarat keeps its own screen and has no cards to hand out, and electronic tables are in lesson 6.3.
Rules. Who is offered the cards, where the cards stay and what may be done with the cards are the rules published for B.C. casinos: a set of rules for a province’s casinos rather than a report of what any one room does, and a room elsewhere may run its squeeze table differently. The two B.C. documents describe two squeeze games: the rule book calls its game midi-baccarat with squeeze play, a variation of the regular game, and the plain-words page names a Midi-Ruyi game, which plays by the Ruyi rules; both games hand the cards to the highest Player and Banker bets. The documents differ in two places, and both differences are named here. The B.C. rules allow squeezing and folding and forbid crumpling and ripping, Ontario’s guide speaks of bending, folding and twisting the cards, and Alberta’s guide of squeezing, folding or bending the cards under house rules; only the B.C. documents say what is not allowed. At a mini table, B.C.’s plain-words page and Alberta’s guide say a player gets no cards at all, while Ontario’s guide says that in many cases a mini table does not let players touch the cards and that some casinos do, often in higher-limit areas.
Pace. No Canadian document we could read prints how many hands an hour a mini table or a squeeze table deals. The comparison of the tables is Ontario’s guide’s, in the guide’s own words, and no number is attached to either table here; what an hour costs at the one pace this course uses for baccarat is lesson 6.3.
Numbers. The three prices are worked out by our baccarat engine over every way a shoe of eight decks can deal a hand, at the commission and the tie payout named under the comparison of the two tables, and our checks recompute each figure from the engine rather than reading it back from this page. Eight decks is an assumption: how many decks are in the shoe is set at each table, and lesson 6.3 shows what the rule books allow. The squeeze leaves the count, the drawing rules and the payouts as they are, so the prices hold at both tables on this page; a table with other payouts has other prices, and that is lesson 6.4. The seats, chips and cards in the pictures are drawings: a taller stack is a larger bet, not an amount.
What is deliberately absent. How a hand is counted and when the Player hand draws are lesson 6.1, and the chart for the Banker hand is lesson 6.2. Who deals at other tables, how many decks a shoe holds, how many seats a table has, table minimums in money and what an hour costs at the pace this course uses are lesson 6.3. The commission and the tables without one are lesson 6.4; side bets are lesson 6.5; the scoreboard and its roads are lesson 6.7. No number of hands an hour is given to a mini table or to a squeeze table anywhere on this page.
Sources. Every rule and every claim on this page carries a button with the sentence it rests on, the publisher who wrote that sentence and the date we read it.
Hosts. Maya and Leo are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former floor supervisor and a former dealer, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.
No promise. Baccarat is played against the house. Knowing who may touch the cards and what the squeeze allows tells you what to expect at a table before you sit down; nothing on this page changes which hand finishes closer to nine, and nothing here says how an evening at the table would end.
Squeeze Baccarat in Ontario’s guide
Players with the largest Player and Banker bets in this version get to look at the cards for that hand before they are announced by the dealer to other players.
The players with the highest wagers on each of the “Player” and “Banker” hands are given the cards dealt to that respective position, to squeeze or simply touch/hold.
The rules of play stay the same, except that players get the chance to bend, fold and twist (i.e. “squeeze”) the cards as part of the dealing process.
Every hand in Squeeze Baccarat is thrown away at the end of the round
OLG PlaySmart · Baccarat — variations and side wagers · read
Hand Held Baccarat in Alberta’s guide
Hand Held Baccarat is played with the same rules as Mini-Baccarat, except players who make the highest Player and Banker wagers have the option to touch or hold the hand they wagered on.
Players usually may squeeze, fold or bend the cards (see house rules regarding Hand Held rules)
GameSense by AGLC · Sit back and learn to play Baccarat — brochure · read
Squeeze Baccarat at Club Regent Casino
The highest player wager and banker wager on Squeeze Baccarat are given the option to open the hands.
Additional cards are taken based on a set House Strategy. A maximum of six cards are dealt per round.
Only the Dealer may touch the cards. Players are never allowed to touch the cards.
Club Regent Casino · Gaming · read
Mini and midi tables at Fallsview Casino Resort
An interactive and exciting game, Baccarat has the house dealing the cards and the players turning them over.
Depending on the game type being offered, players may not have the option to touch the cards. The drawing rules of both Mini and Midi Baccarat are the same as traditional Baccarat.
Sit down at one of our Mini or Midi Baccarat tables in Salon Privé or on the main floor and bet on on whether the Banker’s hand or your hand will have the closest to nine. Electronic Baccarat is available on the main floor near the tables.
What a player may do with the cards
Players may ‘Squeeze’ and or ‘Fold’ the cards, but are not permitted to ‘Crumple’, or ‘Rip’ the cards.
The option of ‘Folding’ the cards may be at the discretion of the CSP as a house rule.
Section 3.0 Squeeze Play Midi-Baccarat, 1.1 to 3.1.1
Who handles the cards at a mini-baccarat table
In mini-baccarat, the dealer does all the work. You aren’t even dealt any cards.
The dealer deals two cards to the Player hand and two to the Banker hand, and announces the point totals.
In Mini-Baccarat, you don’t receive any cards and you don’t touch any cards.
GameSense by AGLC · Sit back and learn to play Baccarat — brochure · read
The dealer is the only one to handle the cards
Squeezing and the outcome
Squeezing has zero impact on the outcome of the game
OLG PlaySmart · Baccarat — variations and side wagers · read
Who holds the cards at a squeeze table
The Players that have the highest ‘Player’ and ‘Banker’ wagers, before the initial deal will be given the option to hold the respective cards.
If there are no wagers or Players to accept the option for either the ‘Player’ or ‘Banker’ hand, then the cards will be dealt to the Dealer.
Section 3.0 Squeeze Play Midi-Baccarat, 1.1 to 3.1.1
Touching the cards at a mini table
In many cases, Mini-Baccarat doesn’t give players a chance to touch the cards, but some casinos do allow it, often in higher limit areas.
OLG PlaySmart · Baccarat — variations and side wagers · read
Three sizes of baccarat table
Traditional, “Big” or “Maxi” Baccarat is the original version with up to 14 players at a large table.
“Midi” Baccarat is played similarly to the traditional version, but played at a smaller table with 9 players.
“Mini” Baccarat is the smallest version, played at a table of 7.
OLG PlaySmart · Baccarat — variations and side wagers · read
Who handles the cards at a mini-baccarat table
In mini-baccarat, the dealer does all the work. You aren’t even dealt any cards.
The dealer deals two cards to the Player hand and two to the Banker hand, and announces the point totals.
In Mini-Baccarat, you don’t receive any cards and you don’t touch any cards.
GameSense by AGLC · Sit back and learn to play Baccarat — brochure · read
The dealer is the only one to handle the cards
Midi-baccarat with squeeze play, under the rules for B.C. casinos
Midi-Baccarat squeeze play is a variation on the regular game of Baccarat, in that it allows the players to touch or squeeze the cards.
Midi-Baccarat with the squeeze play element added is only approved for segregated floor areas or private rooms.
Section 3.0 Squeeze Play Midi-Baccarat, 1.1 to 3.1.1
Who holds the cards, under the rules for B.C. casinos
The Players that have the highest ‘Player’ and ‘Banker’ wagers, before the initial deal will be given the option to hold the respective cards.
If there are no wagers or Players to accept the option for either the ‘Player’ or ‘Banker’ hand, then the cards will be dealt to the Dealer.
Section 3.0 Squeeze Play Midi-Baccarat, 1.1 to 3.1.1
Where the cards stay, and who may not hold the cards
Players must hold the cards over the table within view of the Dealer and Dealer Supervisor at all times.
Players ‘Back Betting’ shall not be permitted to hold the cards.
Section 3.0 Squeeze Play Midi-Baccarat, 1.1 to 3.1.1
What a player may do with the cards, under the rules for B.C. casinos
Players may ‘Squeeze’ and or ‘Fold’ the cards, but are not permitted to ‘Crumple’, or ‘Rip’ the cards.
The option of ‘Folding’ the cards may be at the discretion of the CSP as a house rule.
Section 3.0 Squeeze Play Midi-Baccarat, 1.1 to 3.1.1
The same rule on B.C.’s plain-words page
Players may squeeze or fold the cards, but are not permitted to crumple or rip the cards.
Squeezing and the outcome
Squeezing has zero impact on the outcome of the game
OLG PlaySmart · Baccarat — variations and side wagers · read
Squeeze tables on the rooms’ own lists
Squeeze Baccarat
Squeeze Commission Non-Commission
Parq Casino · Table Games · read
Baccarat in high-limit rooms
For higher stakes, visit our luxurious High Limits Room where Baccarat and high-limit Blackjack doesn’t get any more exciting.
High Limit Table Games has 11 table games for your enjoyment in a separate smoke-friendly facility located on the main casino floor. Enjoy Blackjack and Baccarat.
Experience the thrill of high limit Baccarat and Blackjack while enjoying private salons and terraces offering unparalleled views of Vancouver.
Parq Casino · Table Games · read
Our Fortune Room for VIPs includes the most popular games like Blackjack, Ultimate Texas Hold’em, EZ Baccarat, Commission Baccarat, and Ruyi Baccarat
Touching the cards at a mini table
In many cases, Mini-Baccarat doesn’t give players a chance to touch the cards, but some casinos do allow it, often in higher limit areas.
OLG PlaySmart · Baccarat — variations and side wagers · read
How fast each table plays
Traditional, “Big” or “Maxi” Baccarat is the original version with up to 14 players at a large table.
“Midi” Baccarat is played similarly to the traditional version, but played at a smaller table with 9 players.
Midi players with the largest bets are also offered cards to view, but the general expectation is for play to move faster than at the Big tables.
“Mini” Baccarat is the smallest version, played at a table of 7.
This version is generally played at a much higher speed, achieving maximum hands per hour.
Squeezing also makes each round of gameplay slower, so if you’re looking to lengthen your play time without necessarily spending more, this version might be for you.
OLG PlaySmart · Baccarat — variations and side wagers · read
Lower minimums at a mini table
Table minimums are often much lower for Mini-Baccarat, giving you a chance to pay less per wager, but the speed of play is faster, which could result in more of your play budget wagered over time.
OLG PlaySmart · Baccarat — variations and side wagers · read
Spotted a mistake on this page? Tell us
Been here before? Review us on Trustpilot