Baccarat History

The game was introduced to the French Court in the 15th century and became the favorite game among French nobility. More recently, a lot of US casinos have offered “Mini Baccarat”.

How to Play Baccarat

Baccarat is a very simple game to play with no decisions made after a bet is placed. The winning hand is the hand that holds two or three cards totaling closest to nine. A bet on the Banker pays even money minus a 5% house commission. Aces count as One and Two through Nine are counted at face value. If either hand dealt is a total of 9, it is called a “Natural” and automatically wins. The difference is one of the players banks the game instead of the casino. 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. It has kept it's elegant trait and is still one of the most appealing games to the well situated individuals in our society. In casinos based in the Portuguese territory of Macao, near Hong Kong, the popularity of baccarat is unrivaled. It is played by the exact same rules, but lacks the accoutrements of the formal version. 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.

Baccarat Rules

Baccarat, pronounced "Bah-Caw-Rah", is probably one of the easiest and uncomplicated table games there is. At the beginning of the new game the shoe or the bank is given to the player on the right of the dealer. Each player is given the bank in turn and can hold the bank as long as the bank wins. The hand closest to nine wins. If the hand you bet on wins you get a one to one payoff. 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. That is why the Ten, Jack, Queen and the King count 0 and the Ace only one. This is not only the case with single card values but with the result of two cards combined. Much like blackjack, two hands are played - a dealer and a player hand pitted against each other. Essentially, only three bets can potentially be made - A bet for the player's hand to win, the banker's hand to win, or a tie. Two components of the game need clearing up at this point. (7 + 4 = 11 - 10 = 1) A hand that has drawn and composed of three cards is calculated in the same fashion. Player shows a 6, 7, 8, or 9 (8 and 9 win) Player Hand must Stand. Player shows a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0 Player Hand must Draw. 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 3 Banker Hand must Draw if player's draw card is a 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 Banker Hand must Stand if player's draw card is an 8. 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. 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. The player's objective is to get a hand that is closer to 9 in value than the banker's.
  • 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
. There are two hands dealt regardless of how many players there are: the banker's hand and the player's hand. 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. It may still be a good idea to try it online first, and within minutes you'll feel comfortable enough to play anywhere. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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 6 then he must draw if your card is a 6-7.

Tips

- Bet on the Banker Hand most of the time. When the wager is counter-weighed by the player hand, the edge lowers to more near the 1% mark. Since the house edge is relatively similar for both bets, it is presumptuous to entirely negate the player hand wager.
- 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. For an eight deck game, the casino advantage on the banker hand is 16%, whereas it is 15% in a six deck game.
- 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.
- 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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