Casinos Software Baccarat Rules

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. More recently, a lot of US casinos have offered “Mini Baccarat”.

How to Play Baccarat

A bet on a Tie pays 8 to 1. In Mini Baccarat a casino dealer handles the deal. A Tie at any point in the game ends the hand and pays Tie bets. 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. 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. The difference is one of the players banks the game instead of the casino. The interesting bit to observe of course is that the casino is taking no risk here; they simply charge a fee from each banker. 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 is played by the exact same rules, but lacks the accoutrements of the formal version.

Baccarat Rules

Baccarat, pronounced "Bah-Caw-Rah", is probably one of the easiest and uncomplicated table games there is. 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. The hand closest to nine wins. 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. In Baccarat you always have to keep in mind that the fist digit in a two-digit number does not count. That is why the Ten, Jack, Queen and the King count 0 and the Ace only one. One factor is how hand values are tabulated. The other is how drawing a third card is determined. Please note that both hands are allowed a maximum of one card draw. First off, know that right from the beginning a hand of 8 or 9 automatically wins. If both hands have an 8 or 9, the game is deemed a tie, in which all Tie Bets win. If one hand is an 8 and the other is a 9, the 9 wins. If such is not the case, the Player Hand makes the first move. Player shows a 6, 7, 8, or 9 (8 and 9 win) Player Hand must Stand. Once the player hand is finished and standing, the bank hand will determine whether it must draw a third card. 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 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. If the players cards total 15, 10 is subtracted and the value of the hand becomes 5. 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. With a total of 7, he stands. Baccarat rules state that winning banker bets are subject to a 5% house commission. This is of course because there is more of a chance for a banker win. So from reading this page you should have picked up enough about baccarat rules to play a game. 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 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 7 then he must stand. If the dealer has 8 then he must stand. If the dealer has 9 then he must stand.

Tips

- The banker hand does carry with it a 5% vig, or commission, bringing the House Edge up to 2%. When the wager is counter-weighed by the player hand, the edge lowers to more near the 1% mark. 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.
- 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. 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.
- Play Baccarat at Casinos with the lowest commission possible. 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. At the least, set yourself limits on losses and stake amounts.

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