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Baccarat History

The game was introduced to the French Court in the 15th century and became the favorite game among French nobility. Although it has always been a popular game in European and Latin American casinos, it never caught on as strongly as Blackjack in US casinos.

How to Play Baccarat

A bet on the Banker pays even money minus a 5% house commission. A Tie at any point in the game ends the hand and pays Tie bets. Natural hands always immediately win or Tie (although a 9 beats an 8). 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. 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. And remained an exclusive game to the French nobility for some time before becoming a casino game. 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 infamous Dunes casino introduced baccarat in the late 50's. 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. It is played by the exact same rules, but lacks the accoutrements of the formal version.

Baccarat Rules

The most important thing you need to know is whether you are betting on the Player, on the Bank or on Tie. So never mind what the other players bet on or how much they bet. At the beginning of a new game or when the Cut Card in the Shoe is dealt, the dealer will shuffle all decks together and put them back in the shoe, called "The Bank". 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. 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. If the hand you bet on wins you get a one to one payoff. 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. Two components of the game need clearing up at this point. One factor is how hand values are tabulated. Please note that both hands are allowed a maximum of one card draw. Tabulating the hand value is straightforward and only takes simple mathematics of addition. All cards numbered 2 through 9 are worth their numeric value. 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. 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. Banker shows a 3 Banker Hand must Draw if player's draw card is a 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 Banker Hand must Stand if player's draw card is an 8. 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. The game is played modulo 10, that is if the total of the hand is greater than 10, then 10 is subtracted from the total. (Thus the value of a hand is always between 0 through 9). If the player or banker has a two card total of 8 or 9, he/she turns the cards over immediately. The other must do so also. This is of course because there is more of a chance for a banker win. There aren't many rules, and the baccarat rules that do exist are fairly simple, they just differ from other games you may have played at the casino, so may take a little getting used to. Dealers normally wear tuxedos and the surrounding are is quite lavish. Three dealers run the game and one of these is the caller who runs the game and stands between positions 1 and 15. 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 2 then he must draw. If the dealer has 7 then he must stand. If the dealer has 8 then he must stand.

Tips

- This tip is not to say that a player should never bet on the player hand, for sometimes a hunch can be the best thing going for a gambler. Since the house edge is relatively similar for both bets, it is presumptuous to entirely negate the player hand wager. 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.
- For an eight deck game, the casino advantage on the banker hand is 16%, whereas it is 15% in a six deck game. For the player and tie hands in an eight deck game, the edge is slightly better in the eight deck games.
- Play Baccarat at Casinos with the lowest commission possible. 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. At the least, set yourself limits on losses and stake amounts.

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