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Baccarat History

The present form of Baccarat can be traced back to Italy. In the 1950’s the game was popularized in Vegas because of the efforts of Frank Sinatra, a co-owner of The Sands at the time.

How to Play Baccarat

Baccarat is a very simple game to play with no decisions made after a bet is placed. There are three bets available: The Player’s hand, the Banker’s hand, or a Tie. All Tens and face cards have a value of 0. Natural hands always immediately win or Tie (although a 9 beats an 8). The Player’s hand is dealt to first, and only if the current value is 5 or less. 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. D. Chemin de fer is very similar to baccarat as it's played in American casinos today. The difference is one of the players banks the game instead of the casino. The basis of this game is very similar, but the rules and payoffs are much less dramatic. The infamous Dunes casino introduced baccarat in the late 50's. The highest of the high rollers often come from overseas to try their hand under the chandeliers of the stylish Vegas baccarat rooms. 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

At the beginning of a new game or when the Cut Card in the Shoe is dealt, the dealer will shuffle all decks together and put them back in the shoe, called "The Bank". Each player is given the bank in turn and can hold the bank as long as the bank wins. 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. 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. If the hand you bet on wins you get a one to one payoff. At first the value of the cards might seem a little odd, but it's really simple to understand. In Baccarat you always have to keep in mind that the fist digit in a two-digit number does not count. 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. 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 6 and 10 will have a total value of 6. (7 + 4 = 11 - 10 = 1) A hand that has drawn and composed of three cards is calculated in the same fashion. First off, know that right from the beginning a hand of 8 or 9 automatically wins. 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. The player's objective is to get a hand that is closer to 9 in value than the banker's. (Thus the value of a hand is always between 0 through 9). There are two hands dealt regardless of how many players there are: the banker's hand and the player's hand. Both the banker and the player are dealt two cards, and depending on the value of the hand, might be dealt a third in either case. Tied 9s or tied 8s are a stand off; no money changes hands (unless ties can be bet on) If neither the player or the banker has a natural (a total of 8 or 9) then play goes to the player. So from reading this page you should have picked up enough about baccarat rules to play a game. 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 1 then he must draw. If the dealer has 2 then he must draw. 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 8 then he must stand. Once all the hands are dealt it is closest to 9 that wins.

Tips

- Since the house edge is relatively similar for both bets, it is presumptuous to entirely negate the player hand wager. 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. As for the tie wager, it should be out of the question since it gives a casino advantage of nearly 15%.
- Looking at the House Edge, it is lowered, albeit not substantially, for every deck taken out of the equation. A slight difference of only one hundredth of a percent shows, which is apparent when looking at the House Edge. 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. If you can get a 4% commission, by all means take advantage of it - and bet on the banker every time.
- 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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