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Baccarat History

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

A bet on the Player pays even money. In Mini Baccarat a casino dealer handles the deal. If either hand dealt is a total of 9, it is called a “Natural” and automatically wins. Natural hands always immediately win or Tie (although a 9 beats an 8). 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. 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. Eventually, baccarat evolved into European baccarat and the French game 'chemin de fer'. 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. Baccarat has a history overseas too, which is evidenced by its popularity among the Asian population who visit Las Vegas each year. It is played by the exact same rules, but lacks the accoutrements of the formal version. The table is staffed by only one dealer who is responsible for handling the cards. The limits are lower and usually range from a $2 to $5 minimum, up to $500 maximum.

Baccarat Rules

Betting on Tie is not really recommended because it decreases your winning chances. 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. At the beginning of the new game the shoe or the bank is given to the player on the right of the dealer. Each player is given the bank in turn and can hold the bank as long as the bank wins. 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. In Baccarat you always have to keep in mind that the fist digit in a two-digit number does not count. After all is said and done, the hand with a point total closes to nine wins. The hand closest to a total value of nine wins. If both hands are the same, the game is deemed a tie. One factor is how hand values are tabulated. All other cards (tens and picture cards) are worth zero points. If this sum goes over ten, subtract ten and you will have the final value. I will try to simplify this as much as possible with a few brief guidelines. If such is not the case, the Player Hand makes the first move. Once the player hand is finished and standing, the bank hand will determine whether it must draw a third card. Banker shows a 7, 8 or 9 (8 and 9 win) Banker Hand must Stand. Winning bets on the player hand pay back 1 to 1, while winning bets on the banker hand do the same, but with a 5% vig (commission) winning tie bets pay back 9 to 1. (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.

The maximum number of cards in a baccarat hand is three,,
If the banker or the player has an eight (natural eight) or a nine (natural nine) on the first two cards dealt, no further cards are drawn,,
The player always draws when the hand is a five or less, unless the banker has a natural, and stands on a six and seven,,
the banker always stands if the player stands on a six or a seven

. If the player or banker has a two card total of 8 or 9, he/she turns the cards over immediately. Tied 9s or tied 8s are a stand off; no money changes hands (unless ties can be bet on) If neither the player or the banker has a natural (a total of 8 or 9) then play goes to the player. It may still be a good idea to try it online first, and within minutes you'll feel comfortable enough to play anywhere. Player put their bets on the numbered box in front of the players after the winner is called the other two dealers pay out or collect from the winners and losers around the table. 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 your score is below 6 then you must hit and receive a third card, if you receive a third card then the dealer takes another depending on your total. If the dealer has 0 then he must draw. If the dealer has 2 then he must draw. If the dealer has 4 then he must draw if your card is a 2-3-4-5-6-7. 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%. in the long run, a player should be making more bets on the banker than on the player. 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.
- Play Baccarat Games with the fewest decks. A slight difference of only one hundredth of a percent shows, which is apparent when looking at the House Edge.
- 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.
- Whatever you decide to follow, be sure you plan ahead of time. At the least, set yourself limits on losses and stake amounts.

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