Baccarat Casino Games Internet

Baccarat History

The game was introduced to the French Court in the 15th century and became the favorite game among French nobility. Although it has always been a popular game in European and Latin American casinos, it never caught on as strongly as Blackjack in US casinos.

How to Play Baccarat

A bet on the Banker pays even money minus a 5% house commission. All Tens and face cards have a value of 0. In Mini Baccarat a casino dealer handles the deal. If either hand dealt is a total of 9, it is called a “Natural” and automatically wins. If neither hand is an 8 or a 9 and there is no Tie additional cards may be dealt according to a standard set of rules. It's been suggested that the game was first played with a deck of Tarot cards in the middle ages. D. Falguiere based the game on an old Etruscan ritual of the nine gods, who prayed to a blonde virgin on their tiptoes waiting for her to throw a nine-sided die. The infamous Dunes casino introduced baccarat in the late 50's. In casinos based in the Portuguese territory of Macao, near Hong Kong, the popularity of baccarat is unrivaled. Unlike the heavily ordered and systematic American casinos, these Portuguese tables often allow multiple players to bet on a single spot at the same time, while the expert dealers mentally keep track of each players commission on winning bank bets. It is played by the exact same rules, but lacks the accoutrements of the formal version. Lacking the formality and large group of players, mini-baccarat is played fast and is a good place to learn how to play.

Baccarat Rules

Baccarat, pronounced "Bah-Caw-Rah", is probably one of the easiest and uncomplicated table games there is. Betting on Tie is not really recommended because it decreases your winning chances. Baccarat is a game of chance, all you have to decide is which hand you think will win. Knowing the basic rules will help you understand what is going on on the baccarat table and will make the game more fun to play for you. At the beginning of the new game the shoe or the bank is given to the player on the right of the dealer. Before the cards are dealt each baccarat player has to make his bet. The player with the bank deals two sets of two cards, if of course the game is played by two players. When there is a Tie and you did not bet on it nobody looses or wins. After all is said and done, the hand with a point total closes to nine wins. The game begins with players placing bets. Depending on hand outcomes, the player hand will either draw a third card or stand. The hand closest to a total value of nine wins. One factor is how hand values are tabulated. The other is how drawing a third card is determined. All other cards (tens and picture cards) are worth zero points. In order to calculate a hand total, simply add the value of the two cards. If both hands have an 8 or 9, the game is deemed a tie, in which all Tie Bets win. The following guidelines determine what action the Bank Hand will take: On a side note, if the player hand does not draw a card, the banker hand will always draw if its value is lower than the player hand or if its own two-card value is 0, 1, or 2. Winning bets on the player hand pay back 1 to 1, while winning bets on the banker hand do the same, but with a 5% vig (commission) winning tie bets pay back 9 to 1. The player's objective is to get a hand that is closer to 9 in value than the banker's. An ace counts as 1, two counts as 2, etc,, , up through nine counts as 9, but tens (jacks, queens and kings) count as 0. The payout for winning a bet on the banker's or the player's hand is even money, or 1 to 1 and winning draw bets are paid off at 8 to 1 odds or 9 to 1 depending on where you are playing. The other must do so also. (In online baccarat cards are always face up) A 9 value wins over any lesser total, and if neither player has a 9 then 8 wins over any lesser total. The player stands on a total of 6 or 7, but if the player has a total of 5 or less he/she must draw one card (face up) Now it is the bankers turn. Baccarat has a reputation for being a high rollers game and the tables are normally separate from the rest of the casino in there own section called the pit. Three dealers run the game and one of these is the caller who runs the game and stands between positions 1 and 15. Each player takes it in turns to deal from the shoe there is however no advantage to be gained from it and it is just part of the tradition of the game. A 9 is the best hand and beats all other totals followed by 8, if both the dealer and the player has an 8 or 9 the hand is tied and no money changes hands. If the dealer has 4 then he must draw if your card is a 2-3-4-5-6-7. If the dealer has 5 then he must draw if your card is a 4-5-6-7. If the dealer has 6 then he must draw if your card is a 6-7.

Tips

- When the wager is counter-weighed by the player hand, the edge lowers to more near the 1% mark. This tip is not to say that a player should never bet on the player hand, for sometimes a hunch can be the best thing going for a gambler. Since the house edge is relatively similar for both bets, it is presumptuous to entirely negate the player hand wager.
- A slight difference of only one hundredth of a percent shows, which is apparent when looking at the House Edge. Although this difference is so negligible that most players do not advise picking one version of baccarat over the other, it is advisable to take all the advantage one can possibly take.
- sometimes casinos will only impose a 4% commission, which brings the House Edge on the banker bet down to only approximately %. Any informed player would see that this bet is one of the best in the casino.
- Manage your money wisely, without a "system". Any system like the Martingale, which is designed to cover losses, should be avoided.

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