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

A bet on the Banker pays even money minus a 5% house commission. All Tens and face cards have a value of 0. In the classic game of Baccarat the deal rotates among the players. Even though the player dealing is acting as the Banker, he is not obligated to bet on the Banker’s hand. If either hand dealt is a total of 9, it is called a “Natural” and automatically wins. 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. It's been suggested that the game was first played with a deck of Tarot cards in the middle ages. It was later on introduced in France around 1490 A. Eventually, baccarat evolved into European baccarat and the French game 'chemin de fer'. Chemin de fer is very similar to baccarat as it's played in American casinos today. The infamous Dunes casino introduced baccarat in the late 50's. There exists quite a diversity today, especially so since it has made its way onto the world wide web. A number of casinos have installed a smaller version of the baccarat game played on standard blackjack-sized gaming tables.

Baccarat Rules

Betting on Tie is not really recommended because it decreases your winning chances. Baccarat is a game of chance, all you have to decide is which hand you think will win. Then he will take the very first card out and whatever the value of this card is indicates how many cards will be Burned. If the value of the first card is a four, for instance, the dealer will take the next four cards out of the shoe and discard them in a tray next to it along with the first card. At the beginning of the new game the shoe or the bank is given to the player on the right of the dealer. The player with the bank deals two sets of two cards, if of course the game is played by two players. That is why the Ten, Jack, Queen and the King count 0 and the Ace only one. This is not only the case with single card values but with the result of two cards combined. Much like blackjack, two hands are played - a dealer and a player hand pitted against each other. Unlike blackjack, but rather, like craps, multiple players around the table can bet on which hand will win. Depending on hand outcomes, the player hand will either draw a third card or stand. After the players turn, and depending on both the outcome of the players hand and its own, the dealer hand will either draw a third additional card or stand. The hand closest to a total value of nine wins. If both hands are the same, the game is deemed a tie. If one hand is an 8 and the other is a 9, the 9 wins. 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. 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. (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. 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. There are two hands dealt regardless of how many players there are: the banker's hand and the player's hand. If the player or banker has a two card total of 8 or 9, he/she turns the cards over immediately. 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. 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. 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. If either you or the dealer has a 6 or 7 then you must stand if you stand on a 6 or 7 then the dealer must hit on a score of less than 5. 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 1 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.

Tips

- Bet on the Banker Hand most of the time. 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%. As for the tie wager, it should be out of the question since it gives a casino advantage of nearly 15%.
- Play Baccarat Games with the fewest decks. 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 an eight deck game, the casino advantage on the banker hand is 16%, whereas it is 15% in a six deck game.
- Usually this commission is 5%, which returns a House Edge of approximately 15%. sometimes casinos will only impose a 4% commission, which brings the House Edge on the banker bet down to only approximately %.
- If you want to take your chances, then by all means use a system - just know when to quit. At the least, set yourself limits on losses and stake amounts.

Baccarat game for United Kingdom players: find tips for baccarat, strategies, terms, top baccarat casinos and other gambling information at Baccarat9 UK

Baccarat Play Net | Baccarat Top Casinos | Bonus Baccarat Casino Game | Casinos Games Baccarat Game | Casinos Gaming Baccarat Play | Casino Baccarat Game Internet | Net Baccarat Play | Online Play Baccarat Online | Optimal Gambling