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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. 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
Baccarat is a very simple game to play with no decisions
made after a bet is placed. A bet on a Tie pays 8 to 1. All
Tens and face cards have a value of 0. If
neither hand is 9 a hand with a total of 8 is a Natural winner. If the Player did
draw a third card, the Banker follows the rules at right. 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. 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. Chemin de fer is very similar to
baccarat as it's played in American casinos today. The interesting bit to observe of course is that the casino is taking no risk here; they simply charge a fee from each
banker. 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 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
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. So never
mind what the other players bet on or how much they bet. At the beginning of the new game the shoe or the bank is given to the
player on the right of the dealer. 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 hand you bet on
wins you get a one to one payoff. 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. After all is said
and done, the hand with a point total closes to nine
wins. Two components of the game need clearing up at this
point. One factor is how hand values are tabulated. Tabulating the hand value is straightforward
and only takes simple mathematics of addition. 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. If
both hands have an 8 or 9, the game is deemed a tie, in
which all Tie Bets win. 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. After the dealer has finished drawing,
the hands are added up and a winner is declared. (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. There are two hands dealt regardless of how many players there are: the banker's hand and the player's hand. Although the payoff for winning a draw bet is much more appealing, the chances of actually getting it are pretty low. If the player or banker has a two card total of 8 or 9, he/she turns the cards over immediately. (In online baccarat cards are always face up) A 9 value wins over any lesser total, and if neither player has a 9 then 8 wins over any lesser total. 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. When the bank wins the house claims a %5 cut of the winnings and the total amount is collected every time the shoe is reshuffled. 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 the dealer has 0 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.
Tips
- The banker hand does carry with it a 5% vig, or commission, bringing the House Edge up to 2%. in the long run, a player should be making more bets on the banker than on the player. 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. Looking at the House Edge, it is lowered, albeit not substantially, for every deck taken out of the equation. For the player and tie hands in an eight deck game, the edge is slightly better in the eight deck games.
- Usually this commission is 5%, which returns a House Edge of approximately 15%. Any informed player would see that this bet is one of the best in the casino.
- Manage your money wisely, without a "system". Whatever you decide to follow, be sure you plan ahead of time.
Baccarat game for United Kingdom players: find tips for baccarat, strategies, terms, top baccarat casinos and other gambling information at Baccarat9 UK
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