Baccarat History

Targeted towards high rollers, Baccarat tables used to be exclusive territory with roped off access and dealers dressed in tuxedos. Mini Baccarat has the same rules as Baccarat but has lower stakes and is played on a standard Blackjack shaped table.

How to Play Baccarat

The winning hand is the hand that holds two or three cards totaling closest to nine. A bet on a Tie pays 8 to 1. 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. 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. 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. 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'. The difference is one of the players banks the game instead of the casino. The title of banker rotates around the table in a manner similar to the dice at a craps table. 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. 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.

Baccarat Rules

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. So never mind what the other players bet on or how much they bet. 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". Once the bank looses it moves on to the next player. 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. At first the value of the cards might seem a little odd, but it's really simple to understand. 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. Unlike blackjack, but rather, like craps, multiple players around the table can bet on which hand will win. The other is how drawing a third card is determined. Please note that both hands are allowed a maximum of one card draw. All other cards (tens and picture cards) are worth zero points. In order to calculate a hand total, simply add the value of the two cards. 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. I will try to simplify this as much as possible with a few brief guidelines. If both hands have an 8 or 9, the game is deemed a tie, in which all Tie Bets win. If such is not the case, the Player Hand makes the first move. Player shows a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0 Player Hand must Draw. 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. There are two hands dealt regardless of how many players there are: the banker's hand and the player's hand. The task for you as a player is to bet on the banker's hand, the player's hand, or a draw, which means that the two hands are tied. The other must do so also. 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. This is of course because there is more of a chance for a banker win. The aim of the game is to get as close to 9 as possible and if you are nearer then you win. If the hand is greater than 10 then 10 is subtracted from the total, this means that the value of the hand is always 0-9. 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 0 then he must draw. If the dealer has 1 then he must draw. If the dealer has 2 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.

Tips

- 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. 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.
- Play Baccarat Games with the fewest decks. A baccarat game using eight decks will deliver a probability of 456% of winning on the bank hand, 442% of winning on the player hand, and 92% of winning on a Tie. 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.
- Usually this commission is 5%, which returns a House Edge of approximately 15%. If you can get a 4% commission, by all means take advantage of it - and bet on the banker every time.
- Any system like the Martingale, which is designed to cover losses, should be avoided. If you want to take your chances, then by all means use a system - just know when to quit.

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