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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
A bet
on the Player pays even money. A bet on the Banker pays even money
minus a 5% house commission. All
Tens and face cards have a value of 0. Even though the player dealing is acting as the Banker, he is not
obligated to bet on the Banker’s hand. A Tie at any point
in the game ends the hand and pays Tie bets. 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. 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. The Baccarat we know today originated in Great Britain and was then passed along to South America and finally to Nevada. The infamous Dunes casino introduced baccarat in the late 50's. In casinos based in the Portuguese territory of Macao, near Hong Kong, the popularity of baccarat is unrivaled. 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.
Baccarat Rules
It doesn't matter which seat you take at the baccarat table because
unlike in Black Jack you are not playing against other players or against
the house. The only thing you are betting against is the cards. So never
mind what the other players bet on or how much they bet. Baccarat is played with eight decks of cards without Jokers. The baccarat game is now ready to
play. 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. 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. The game begins with players placing bets. The hand closest
to a total value of nine wins. One factor is how hand values are tabulated. The other is how drawing a third card is determined. a baccarat hand will never exceed
three cards total. If this
sum goes over ten, subtract ten and you will have the
final value. For instance, a hand of 6 and 10 will have
a total value of 6. I will try to simplify this as much as possible with a
few brief guidelines. 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 4
Banker Hand must Draw if player's draw card is a
0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7
Banker Hand must Stand if player's draw card is a 0, 1,
8 or 9. (Thus the value of a hand is always between 0 through 9). 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.
- 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
. 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. 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. So from reading this page you should have picked up enough about baccarat rules to play a game. The game of baccarat is unlike most casino games as the is no level of skill involved the reason for this is that neither the player or dealer has any options or decisions to make during the course of the 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. 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. The aim of the game is to get as close to 9 as possible and if you are nearer then you win. A 9 is the best hand and beats all other totals followed by 8, if both the dealer and the player has an 8 or 9 the hand is tied and no money changes hands. If the dealer has 5 then he must draw if your card is a 4-5-6-7. 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%. 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.
- Looking at the House Edge, it is lowered, albeit not substantially, for every deck taken out of the equation. For an eight deck game, the casino advantage on the banker hand is 16%, whereas it is 15% in a six deck game.
- sometimes casinos will only impose a 4% commission, which brings the House Edge on the banker bet down to only approximately %. 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. Whatever you decide to follow, be sure you plan ahead of time.
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