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Baccarat History
The present form of Baccarat can be
traced back to Italy. More
recently, a lot of US casinos have offered “Mini Baccarat”.
How to Play Baccarat
The winning hand is the
hand that holds two or three cards totaling closest to nine. 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. The Player’s hand is dealt to first, and only if the current value
is 5 or less. 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. 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. 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 result of the die decided her fate. 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. There exists quite a diversity today, especially so since it has made its way onto the world wide web. The highest of the high rollers often come from overseas to try their hand under the chandeliers of the stylish Vegas baccarat rooms. 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. It is played by the exact same rules, but lacks the accoutrements of the formal version.
Baccarat Rules
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. Once the bank looses
it moves on to the next player. Before the cards are dealt each baccarat
player has to make his bet. 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. At first the value of the cards might seem a little odd, but it's
really simple to understand. This
is not only the case with single card values but with the result of
two cards combined. The game begins with players placing bets. Depending on hand outcomes, the player hand will either
draw a third card or stand. The hand closest
to a total value of nine wins. Two components of the game need clearing up at this
point. One factor is how hand values are tabulated. A hand of seven and four has a
value of 1. 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. 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. After the dealer has finished drawing,
the hands are added up and a winner is declared. 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. The player's objective is to get a hand that is closer to 9 in value than the banker's. There are two hands dealt regardless of how many players there are: the banker's hand and the player's hand. 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. 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. The advantage is slim, in the area
0,,8%, but in the world of gambling that's really not that small. Dealers normally wear tuxedos and the surrounding are is quite lavish. 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. 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 2 then he must draw. 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 5 then he must draw if your card is a 4-5-6-7.
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%. Since the house edge is relatively similar for both bets, it is presumptuous to entirely negate the player hand wager. in the long run, a player should be making more bets on the banker than on the player.
- Looking at the House Edge, it is lowered, albeit not substantially, for every deck taken out of the equation. 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. For an eight deck game, the casino advantage on the banker hand is 16%, whereas it is 15% in a six deck game.
- On the banker bet, the casino charges a vig, or commission to counter the players advantage. Usually this commission is 5%, which returns a House Edge of approximately 15%.
- As for other bankroll management strategies, a good one is posted on this website. Whatever you decide to follow, be sure you plan ahead of time.
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