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Baccarat History

In the 1950’s the game was popularized in Vegas because of the efforts of Frank Sinatra, a co-owner of The Sands at the time. 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. A bet on a Tie pays 8 to 1. After players make their bets the dealer deals a two-card hand to the Banker and Player. A Tie at any point in the game ends the hand and pays Tie bets. If the Player did draw a third card, the Banker follows the rules at right. There are many debates pertaining to the history of baccarat, particularly where the game was invented: France or Italy. 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. 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. Although a few rules have been changed here and there to accomodate the individual taste of a certain country, the style has remained the same. It has kept it's elegant trait and is still one of the most appealing games to the well situated individuals in our society. Baccarat has a history overseas too, which is evidenced by its popularity among the Asian population who visit Las Vegas each year. 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.

Baccarat Rules

Baccarat, pronounced "Bah-Caw-Rah", is probably one of the easiest and uncomplicated table games there is. The most important thing you need to know is whether you are betting on the Player, on the Bank or on Tie. Betting on Tie is not really recommended because it decreases your winning chances. So never mind what the other players bet on or how much they bet. The player with the bank deals two sets of two cards, if of course the game is played by two players. If the hand you bet on wins you get a one to one payoff. When there is a Tie and you did not bet on it nobody looses or wins. So if you draw an eight in baccarat and a three, for instance, the value of both together would be eleven but since the first digit does not count your hand counts only one. Much like blackjack, two hands are played - a dealer and a player hand pitted against each other. The game begins with players placing bets. After all bets are made, which cannot be added to or retracted once play begins, the House will deal four face-down cards - two cards each to both the player and banker (House) After the cards are finished being dealt, they are revealed and tabulated. Two components of the game need clearing up at this point. 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. In order to calculate a hand total, simply add the value of the two cards. First off, know that right from the beginning a hand of 8 or 9 automatically wins. Player shows a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0 Player Hand must Draw. The following guidelines determine what action the Bank Hand will take: On a side note, if the player hand does not draw a card, the banker hand will always draw if its value is lower than the player hand or if its own two-card value is 0, 1, or 2. 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. The payout for winning a bet on the banker's or the player's hand is even money, or 1 to 1 and winning draw bets are paid off at 8 to 1 odds or 9 to 1 depending on where you are playing. (In online baccarat cards are always face up) A 9 value wins over any lesser total, and if neither player has a 9 then 8 wins over any lesser total. 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. 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. 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 0 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 8 then he must stand. Once all the hands are dealt it is closest to 9 that wins.

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%. When more 4's are leaving the deck, the banker bet has slightly better odds, whereas when 6's leave the deck, the player bet has a slightly better chance of winning than it does from the start of a fresh deck.
- Play Baccarat Games with the fewest decks. For an eight deck game, the casino advantage on the banker hand is 16%, whereas it is 15% in a six deck game. Although this difference is so negligible that most players do not advise picking one version of baccarat over the other, it is advisable to take all the advantage one can possibly take.
- 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.
- 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.

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