Casinos Game Baccarat Gambling

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. 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 the Player pays even money. A bet on a Tie pays 8 to 1. 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. The Player’s hand is dealt to first, and only if the current value is 5 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 was later on introduced in France around 1490 A. D. 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 infamous Dunes casino introduced baccarat in the late 50's. It is played by the exact same rules, but lacks the accoutrements of the formal version. 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 is a game of chance, all you have to decide is which hand you think will win. The only thing you are betting against is the cards. Baccarat is played with eight decks of cards without Jokers. Each player is given the bank in turn and can hold the bank as long as the bank wins. The player with the bank deals two sets of two cards, if of course the game is played by two players. 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. At first the value of the cards might seem a little odd, but it's really simple to understand. Much like blackjack, two hands are played - a dealer and a player hand pitted against each other. The game begins with players placing bets. Tabulating the hand value is straightforward and only takes simple mathematics of addition. A hand of seven and four has a value of 1. (7 + 4 = 11 - 10 = 1) A hand that has drawn and composed of three cards is calculated in the same fashion. If both hands have an 8 or 9, the game is deemed a tie, in which all Tie Bets win. Player shows a 6, 7, 8, or 9 (8 and 9 win) Player Hand must Stand. Banker shows a 7, 8 or 9 (8 and 9 win) Banker Hand must Stand. Banker shows a 5 Banker Hand must Draw if player's draw card is a 4, 5, 6, or 7 Banker Hand must Stand if player's draw card is a 0,1, 2, 3, 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. The game is played modulo 10, that is if the total of the hand is greater than 10, then 10 is subtracted from the total. (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. 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. 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. Dealers normally wear tuxedos and the surrounding are is quite lavish. 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. 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. Player and dealer are both dealt two cards to start with, if either of them has a two card total of 8 or 9 then they must immediately turn over the cards. If the dealer has 6 then he must draw if your card is a 6-7. Once all the hands are dealt it is closest to 9 that wins.

Tips

- The banker hand does carry with it a 5% vig, or commission, bringing the House Edge up to 2%. 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. As for the tie wager, it should be out of the question since it gives a casino advantage of nearly 15%.
- Looking at the House Edge, it is lowered, albeit not substantially, for every deck taken out of the equation. 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. For the player and tie hands in an eight deck game, the edge is slightly better in the eight deck games.
- sometimes casinos will only impose a 4% commission, which brings the House Edge on the banker bet down to only approximately %. 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. Whatever you decide to follow, be sure you plan ahead of time.

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