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Baccarat History
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. More
recently, a lot of US casinos have offered “Mini Baccarat”.
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
the classic game of Baccarat the deal rotates among the players. After players make their bets the dealer
deals a two-card hand to the Banker and Player. If
neither hand is 9 a hand with a total of 8 is a Natural winner. It's difficult to trace back the origins of this game mainly because slight variations of it name are used in both countries, each wanting to claim it as theirs. According to many, the game was first invented in Italy by a gambler Felix Falguiere, where it acquired the Italian name 'baccara', meaning zero in English. It's been suggested that the game was first played with a deck of Tarot cards in the middle ages. Eventually,
baccarat evolved into European baccarat and the French game 'chemin de fer'. The basis of this game is very similar, but the rules and payoffs are much less
dramatic. 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. The layout, conforms to the regular baccarat table and each of the seven seat positions correspond to a number and betting box with spots for banker, player, and tie. The limits are lower and usually range from a $2 to $5 minimum, up to $500 maximum.
Baccarat Rules
Baccarat, pronounced "Bah-Caw-Rah", is probably one of the easiest and uncomplicated
table games there is. It doesn't matter which seat you take at the baccarat table because
unlike in Black Jack you are not playing against other players or against
the house. The only thing you are betting against is the cards. If the value of the first card is a four, for instance,
the dealer will take the next four cards out of the shoe and discard them
in a tray next to it along with the first card. At the beginning of the new game the shoe or the bank is given to the
player on the right of the dealer. If
the first two cards dealt count Eight or Nine it is called a "Natural" and wins
automatically, unless both hands have the same
value then it is of course a Tie. You can bet on a Tie where
you get a one to eight payoff but a Tie is very rare, it occurs
less than once in ten hands. Unlike blackjack, but
rather, like craps, multiple players around the table
can bet on which hand will win. After all is said
and done, the hand with a point total closes to nine
wins. The game begins with players placing bets. After all bets are made, which cannot be
added to or retracted once play begins, the House will
deal four face-down cards - two cards each to both the
player and banker (House) After the cards are
finished being dealt, they are revealed and tabulated. After the players
turn, and depending on both the outcome of the players
hand and its own, the dealer hand will either draw a
third additional card or stand. The other is how drawing a third card is determined. If this
sum goes over ten, subtract ten and you will have the
final value. For instance, a hand of 5, Queen and 9 has a
value of 4 (5 + 0 + 9 = 14 - 10 = 4) Card draw determination is slightly more
involved and is often explained with a chart. If
both hands have an 8 or 9, the game is deemed a tie, in
which all Tie Bets win. Player shows a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
or 0
Player Hand must Draw. Banker shows a 4
Banker Hand must Draw if player's draw card is a
0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7
Banker Hand must Stand if player's draw card is a 0, 1,
8 or 9. The player's objective is to get a hand that is closer to 9 in value than the banker's. The game is played modulo 10, that is if the total of the hand is greater than 10, then 10 is subtracted from the total. If the players cards total 15, 10 is subtracted and the value of the hand becomes 5. 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. With a total of 7, he stands. There aren't many rules, and the baccarat rules that do exist are fairly simple, they just differ from other games you may have played at the casino, so may take a little getting used
to. Dealers normally wear tuxedos and the surrounding are is quite lavish. This means the game is quite simple especially as there are only three possible bets that can be made. Player put their bets on the numbered box in front of the players after the winner is called the other two dealers pay out or collect from the winners and losers around the table. When the bank wins the house claims a %5 cut of the winnings and the total amount is collected every time the shoe is reshuffled. All picture cards count as 10 and aces count as 1. If the dealer has 2 then he must draw. If the dealer has 9 then he must stand.
Tips
- Since the house edge is relatively similar for both bets, it is presumptuous to entirely negate the player hand wager. in the long run, a player should be making more bets on the banker than on the player. Going back the card-counting issue, if a player does indeed insist on counting cards, they should pay attention to 6's and 4's.
- Many online casinos will offer different versions of baccarat, such as a one deck version, and a 6 or 8 deck version with higher minimum betting amounts. Looking at the House Edge, it is lowered, albeit not substantially, for every deck taken out of the equation. For the player and tie hands in an eight deck game, the edge is slightly better in the eight deck games.
- Play Baccarat at Casinos with the lowest commission possible. Usually this commission is 5%, which returns a House Edge of approximately 15%.
- Manage your money wisely, without a "system". If you want to take your chances, then by all means use a system - just know when to quit.
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