Baccarat History

Although it has always been a popular game in European and Latin American casinos, it never caught on as strongly as Blackjack in US casinos. Targeted towards high rollers, Baccarat tables used to be exclusive territory with roped off access and dealers dressed in tuxedos.

How to Play Baccarat

A bet on the Player pays even money. A bet on a Tie pays 8 to 1. If either hand dealt is a total of 9, it is called a “Natural” and automatically wins. If neither hand is 9 a hand with a total of 8 is a Natural winner. 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. 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. If an eight or a nine was thrown, she would become the priestess; if she threw a six or seven, she would be banned from any further religious activities; if she threw any number less than six, she would walk into the sea. The infamous Dunes casino introduced baccarat in the late 50's. 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. The limits are lower and usually range from a $2 to $5 minimum, up to $500 maximum.

Baccarat Rules

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. Baccarat is played with eight decks of cards without Jokers. If the value of the first card is a four, for instance, the dealer will take the next four cards out of the shoe and discard them in a tray next to it along with the first card. 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. 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. When there is a Tie and you did not bet on it nobody looses or wins. 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. a baccarat hand will never exceed three cards total. 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. I will try to simplify this as much as possible with a few brief guidelines. Once the player hand is finished and standing, the bank hand will determine whether it must draw a third card. 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 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. After the dealer has finished drawing, the hands are added up and a winner is declared. 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. 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. 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. This is of course because there is more of a chance for a banker win. It may still be a good idea to try it online first, and within minutes you'll feel comfortable enough to play anywhere. This means the game is quite simple especially as there are only three possible bets that can be made. Three dealers run the game and one of these is the caller who runs the game and stands between positions 1 and 15. Each player takes it in turns to deal from the shoe there is however no advantage to be gained from it and it is just part of the tradition of the game. The aim of the game is to get as close to 9 as possible and if you are nearer then you win. 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 4 then he must draw if your card is a 2-3-4-5-6-7. If the dealer has 7 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%. When the wager is counter-weighed by the player hand, the edge lowers to more near the 1% mark. 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. 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.
- On the banker bet, the casino charges a vig, or commission to counter the players advantage. Any informed player would see that this bet is one of the best in the casino.
- 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.

Baccarat game for United Kingdom players: find tips for baccarat, strategies, terms, top baccarat casinos and other gambling information at Baccarat9 UK

Gambling Baccarat Winning | Top Online Play Baccarat | Baccarat Game Gambling Casino | Gaming Internet Baccarat Card | Gambling Software Play Baccarat | Top Casinos Baccarat Software | Baccarat Online Internet Game | Baccarat Tips For Real | Online Slots