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How to read a baccarat scoreboard
A baccarat scoreboard shows the results of the shoe so far in five "roads". The Bead Road lists every hand in order, the Big Road groups Banker and Player wins into streaks, and the Big Eye Boy, Small Road and Cockroach Pig show how regular those streaks have been. On the first two roads, red is Banker and blue is Player. The board shows what happened. It can't show what happens next, because every hand is dealt independently.
Why baccarat has a scoreboard
Long before screens, players kept the results on paper scorecards, and many still do. Tracking the shoe is part of the tradition, especially at Asian baccarat tables. Casinos now show the roads on a screen at the table. They are a record of the shoe, read for interest and for fun. The chance of each result is the same on every hand: Banker about 45.9%, Player about 44.6%, Tie about 9.5%.
The five roads at a glance
| Road | What it shows | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Bead Road | Every hand, in order | Solid circles: red Banker, blue Player, green Tie |
| Big Road | Streaks, one column per run | Hollow circles: red Banker, blue Player; a tie is a green slash |
| Big Eye Boy | Whether the Big Road repeats, one column back | Hollow circles: red repeats, blue breaks |
| Small Road | The same, two columns back | Solid dots: red or blue |
| Cockroach Pig | The same, three columns back | Slashes: red or blue |
The Bead Road
The Bead Road, also called the Bead Plate, is the plainest record. Each hand is one mark, filled in top to bottom, six rows to a column, then on to the next column. Ties get their own mark. Here are 13 hands: B B B P B T B P P B P P P.
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Row 1 | B | B | P |
| Row 2 | B | P | |
| Row 3 | B | P | |
| Row 4 | P | B | |
| Row 5 | B | P | |
| Row 6 | T | P |
The Big Road
The Big Road is the main road. A win for the same side as the last hand goes under the last mark. A win for the other side starts a new column to the right. Ties don't get a mark of their own: a green slash goes through the last mark. The same 13 hands on the Big Road:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row 1 | B | P | B / | P | B | P |
| Row 2 | B | B | P | P | ||
| Row 3 | B | P |
Each column is one streak. Read left to right: three Banker, one Player, two Banker (with a tie), two Player, one Banker, three Player. A streak longer than six rows turns right along the bottom, called a dragon tail. The Big Road and Bead Road in detail.
The three derived roads
On the Big Eye Boy, Small Road and Cockroach Pig, red and blue don't mean Banker and Player. They compare the columns of the Big Road with earlier columns. Red means the Big Road is repeating itself, with columns of matching length. Blue means it has broken that shape and looks choppy. The three roads look back one, two and three columns. For the 13 hands above, the Big Eye Boy reads blue, blue, blue, red, red, blue, blue, red. How the derived roads are worked out.
Pair dots
A small dot on a mark shows a pair: a red dot for a Banker Pair, a blue dot for a Player Pair. A hand can show both.
The predictor
Many boards, including ours, show a small preview: the marks each derived road would get if the next hand were Banker, and the marks it would get if it were Player. Despite the name, it doesn't predict anything. It only shows how the roads would be drawn. The next hand is no more likely to fill in one side than the odds above.
How people read the board
Some players like to follow a streak, some bet on a change, and some look for a familiar shape. These are traditions and personal choices, and part of what makes the game social. None of them changes the house edge: 1.06% on Banker and 1.24% on Player, whatever the board looks like. Baccarat patterns.
Watch the roads fill in
Our free table draws all five roads as the shoe is dealt, with the predictor, and marks named shapes it finds in the Big Road. Play free baccarat.
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Questions
How do you read a baccarat scoreboard?
Start with the Big Road: red marks are Banker wins, blue are Player wins, each column is a streak, and a green slash marks a tie. The Bead Road lists every hand in order. The other three roads compare streak lengths: red repeats, blue breaks.
What do red and blue mean on a baccarat board?
On the Bead Road and Big Road, red is Banker and blue is Player. On the Big Eye Boy, Small Road and Cockroach Pig, red means the Big Road is repeating and blue means it has broken the pattern.
Can the baccarat scoreboard predict the next hand?
No. Each hand is dealt independently. The scoreboard records what has happened; the odds of the next hand are the same whatever it shows.
What is the Big Road in baccarat?
The main scoreboard road. Each win is a circle, red for Banker and blue for Player, and wins for the same side stack down a column. A new column starts when the winner changes.
Why do casinos show baccarat scoreboards?
Players like to follow the shoe, and keeping score is a long baccarat tradition. The board is a record of results, not a forecast.
More: How to play baccarat · Baccarat rules · Baccarat third card rules · Baccarat terms · The Big Road and Bead Road in baccarat · Big Eye Boy, Small Road and Cockroach Pig · Baccarat patterns · Baccarat odds · Banker vs Player · Baccarat tie and pair bets · Baccarat strategy · Baccarat simulator and practice