Start with the natural check
The baccarat drawing tableau is an instruction table, not advice about when a customer should take a risk. Under New Jersey’s mini baccarat provisions, an initial eight or nine in either hand ends the drawing stage for both hands. Only when neither side has a natural do the remaining instructions apply. Checking this first prevents the common error of giving a low Player hand another card against Banker’s natural nine.
Without a natural, Player draws on zero through five and stands on six or seven. If Player stands, Banker draws on zero through five and stands on six or seven. If Player draws, Banker’s instruction depends on both its own initial total and the value of the particular third card dealt to Player. It does not depend on Player’s updated total.
Read the Banker branches
When Player has taken a third card, Banker draws on an opening zero, one, or two. Banker three draws unless Player’s third card is eight. Banker four draws when that third card is two through seven. Banker five draws when the card is four through seven. Banker six draws only when the card is six or seven. Banker seven stands. The natural rule has already removed opening eights and nines from this decision tree.
A ten, jack, queen, or king in the third card position has value zero. This is different from Player receiving no third card at all. A chart may have a separate column for no card, and treating that column as zero changes some Banker instructions incorrectly.
Three hypothetical comparisons
Player starts at five and draws eight, ending at three. Banker starts at three and must stand because the third card was eight. The result is a tie at three. Looking only at Player’s final three would incorrectly suggest that Banker should draw.
Next, Player starts at four and draws two, ending at six. Banker starts at four and must draw because Player’s third card was two. If Banker receives five, its final count becomes nine. The final comparison is nine against six, even though Banker began level with Player.
Finally, Player starts at seven and stands. Banker starts at six and also stands. No third card is dealt, and Player wins seven against six. There is no discretion to ask for another card because the existing result is disappointing. In each example the dealing procedure follows observable inputs rather than a prediction about the next card.
The legal table is N.J.A.C. 13:69F-7.9, reproduced by Cornell; the primary issuer’s Chapter 69F contains the underlying regulation.