Baccarat History

The present form of Baccarat can be traced back to Italy. More recently, a lot of US casinos have offered “Mini Baccarat”.

How to Play Baccarat

There are three bets available: The Player’s hand, the Banker’s hand, or a Tie. The winning hand is the hand that holds two or three cards totaling closest to nine. A Tie at any point in the game ends the hand and pays Tie bets. The Player’s hand is dealt to first, and only if the current value is 5 or less. After the Player’s hand is complete, the Banker’s hand is dealt out according to the following set of rules: If the Player did not draw a third card, then the Banker only draws a card to a hand of 4 or less. And remained an exclusive game to the French nobility for some time before becoming a casino game. Eventually, baccarat evolved into European baccarat and the French game 'chemin de fer'. Chemin de fer is very similar to baccarat as it's played in American casinos today. The interesting bit to observe of course is that the casino is taking no risk here; they simply charge a fee from each banker. 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 result of the die decided her fate. The Baccarat we know today originated in Great Britain and was then passed along to South America and finally to Nevada. Although a few rules have been changed here and there to accomodate the individual taste of a certain country, the style has remained the same.

Baccarat Rules

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. The baccarat game is now ready to play. Before the cards are dealt each baccarat player has to make his bet. That is why the Ten, Jack, Queen and the King count 0 and the Ace only one. So if you draw an eight in baccarat and a three, for instance, the value of both together would be eleven but since the first digit does not count your hand counts only one. Unlike in Black Jack it is impossible to overdraw in Baccarat. Much like blackjack, two hands are played - a dealer and a player hand pitted against each other. If both hands are the same, the game is deemed a tie. One factor is how hand values are tabulated. The other is how drawing a third card is determined. In order to calculate a hand total, simply add the value of the two cards. (7 + 4 = 11 - 10 = 1) A hand that has drawn and composed of three cards is calculated in the same fashion. 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. 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. Banker shows a 5 Banker Hand must Draw if player's draw card is a 4, 5, 6, or 7 Banker Hand must Stand if player's draw card is a 0,1, 2, 3, 8 or 9. After the dealer has finished drawing, the hands are added up and a winner is declared. 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. (Thus the value of a hand is always between 0 through 9). If the players cards total 15, 10 is subtracted and the value of the hand becomes 5. 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. (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. With a total of 7, he stands. This is of course because there is more of a chance for a banker win. This means the game is quite simple especially as there are only three possible bets that can be made. The aim of the game is to get as close to 9 as possible and if you are nearer then you win. All picture cards count as 10 and aces count as 1. Player and dealer are both dealt two cards to start with, if either of them has a two card total of 8 or 9 then they must immediately turn over the cards. If either you or the dealer has a 6 or 7 then you must stand if you stand on a 6 or 7 then the dealer must hit on a score of less than 5. If the dealer has 7 then he must stand. If the dealer has 9 then he must stand.

Tips

- Depending on the number of decks being played, the casino advantage for the player hand wager is generally 15%, whereas on the banker hand it is only 16%. 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. When more 4's are leaving the deck, the banker bet has slightly better odds, whereas when 6's leave the deck, the player bet has a slightly better chance of winning than it does from the start of a fresh deck.
- Play Baccarat Games with the fewest decks. 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. These same probabilities in a baccarat game with six decks are 457% on the banker hand, 443% on the player hand, and 91% on the Tie.
- Play Baccarat at Casinos with the lowest commission possible. Any informed player would see that this bet is one of the best in the casino.
- Manage your money wisely, without a "system". Whatever you decide to follow, be sure you plan ahead of time.

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