A monkey in baccarat is a card worth zero points: a 10, jack, queen or king. When someone calls “monkey,” they are hoping one of those cards appears. It may be headed for the hand they bet on or the hand they want to lose.
The nickname describes the card’s value. It does not mean a special winning hand, and calling for one does not change what comes out of the shoe.
Which cards are monkeys
In ordinary baccarat slang, all four zero-value ranks count. Jacks, queens and kings are face cards; a 10 is not a face card, but it also scores zero. Aces count as one, while cards from 2 through 9 keep their printed values.
A 10 is not a face card, but it has the same zero-point value as J, Q, and K in baccarat.
How zero-value cards affect the score
Add the card values and keep only the last digit. A 7 and a queen make 7. Two kings make 0. An 8 and a 7 add up to 15, so that hand scores 5.
There is no bust in baccarat. You are comparing final totals from 0 to 9, with the higher total winning. A zero-value card leaves a hand’s existing score unchanged; it does not stop the hand from “going over.”
For the full scoring system and drawing sequence, see our baccarat card values and rules.
Why players shout monkey in baccarat
Picture this: you have bet on Player, which has a 4 and a 3 for a total of 7. Banker has two 2s for a total of 4. Player stands, and Banker must take a third card under standard punto banco rules.
This is a good moment for a Player bettor to hope for a monkey. If Banker draws a king, it adds zero and leaves Banker on 4. Player wins 7 to 4. You wanted the zero on the opposite side of the table, not in the Player hand.
A Player bettor can want a monkey on the Banker side. Here, the king leaves Banker on 4 and Player wins with 7.
A monkey is not always helpful. If you backed Banker in that same round, the king would leave your bet losing. A 4 or 5 would instead take Banker to 8 or 9. Whether a zero helps depends on the hand totals and which side you backed.
You do not choose whether to draw
In standard punto banco, the drawing rules decide who gets a third card. Player stands on 6 or 7; the Banker rules depend on the situation. If either hand starts with a two-card 8 or 9, both hands stop immediately.
The Seven Feathers baccarat rules set out that sequence. A shout from the table expresses a hope about the next card. It is not a request the dealer can use to change the draw.
Where the monkey nickname comes from
One often-repeated explanation connects “monkey” with “monarchy,” a reference to the royal figures on face cards. Former dealer Mark Pilarski described that explanation as tentative in his 2010 account of hearing players call for a monkey.
That account supports the term’s use at the table, but it does not establish who coined it or how the word first developed. Treat the monarchy story as a possible origin, not a documented fact. The practical meaning is much clearer than the history: players are calling for a zero-value card.
Is Monkey Baccarat a different game
It can be. Monkey Baccarat is also the name of a specific baccarat variant with additional side bets. Its terminology counts only J, Q and K as monkeys, even though a 10 still has a baccarat value of zero.
That distinction matters when money is riding on a named side bet. Ordinary table slang does not define its payout rules. Check the particular game’s rules and paytable instead of assuming every zero-value card qualifies.
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