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Baccarat History
Targeted towards high rollers, Baccarat tables used to be exclusive
territory with roped off access and dealers dressed in tuxedos. More
recently, a lot of US casinos have offered “Mini Baccarat”.
How to Play Baccarat
A bet on a Tie pays 8 to 1. All
Tens and face cards have a value of 0. In
the classic game of Baccarat the deal rotates among the players. A Tie at any point
in the game ends the hand and pays Tie bets. 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 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. It was later on introduced in France around 1490 A. The title of banker rotates around the table in a manner similar to the dice at a craps table. There exists quite a diversity today, especially so since it has made its way onto the world wide web. 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. 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. 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. The only thing you are betting against is the cards. Once the bank looses
it moves on to the next player. The hand closest to nine wins. 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. That is
why the Ten, Jack, Queen and the King count 0 and the Ace only one. Unlike blackjack, but
rather, like craps, multiple players around the table
can bet on which hand will win. Depending on hand outcomes, the player hand will either
draw a third card or stand. 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. All
cards numbered 2 through 9 are worth their numeric
value. In order to calculate a hand
total, simply add the value of the two cards. For instance, a hand of 6 and 10 will have
a total value of 6. A hand of seven and four has a
value of 1. I will try to simplify this as much as possible with a
few brief guidelines. First off, know that right from
the beginning a hand of 8 or 9 automatically wins. Banker shows a 6
Banker Hand must Draw if player's draw card is a 6 or 7
Banker Hand must Stand if player's draw card is a 0,1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 8 or 9. 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.
- The maximum number of cards in a baccarat hand is three,,
- If the banker or the player has an eight (natural eight) or a nine (natural nine) on the first two cards dealt, no further cards are
drawn,,
- The player always draws when the hand is a five or less, unless the banker has a natural, and stands on a six and
seven,,
- the banker always stands if the player stands on a six or a seven
. Although the payoff for winning a draw bet is much more appealing, the chances of actually getting it are pretty low. With a total of 6 or less, his selection depends on the value of his two card total and the value of the card that the player drew. This is of course because there is more of a chance for a banker win. 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. The game of baccarat is unlike most casino games as the is no level of skill involved the reason for this is that neither the player or dealer has any options or decisions to make during the course of the game. This means the game is quite simple especially as there are only three possible bets that can be made. The table layout is quite simple and consists of fourteen numbered positions seven on each side of the dealer; the number thirteen is omitted as it is considered unlucky. If the dealer has 1 then he must draw. If the dealer has 3 then he must draw if your card is a 0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-9. If the dealer has 9 then he must stand.
Tips
- 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. 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%.
- Play Baccarat Games with the fewest decks. 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. 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.
- On the banker bet, the casino charges a vig, or commission to counter the players advantage. If you can get a 4% commission, by all means take advantage of it - and bet on the banker every time.
- Unless you have a very hearty bankroll, and do not mind losing every bit of it, play with a money management system that does not try to chase after losses. As for other bankroll management strategies, a good one is posted on this website.
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