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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. 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.
How to Play Baccarat
Baccarat is a very simple game to play with no decisions
made after a bet is placed. The winning hand is the
hand that holds two or three cards totaling closest to nine. A bet
on the Player pays even money. 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 was later on introduced in France around 1490 A. 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. A number of casinos have installed a smaller version of the baccarat game played on standard blackjack-sized gaming tables. 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. The layout, conforms to the regular baccarat table and each of the seven seat positions correspond to a number and betting box with spots for banker, player, and tie. The limits are lower and usually range from a $2 to $5 minimum, up to $500 maximum. Lacking the formality and large group of players, mini-baccarat is played fast and is a good place to learn how to
play.
Baccarat Rules
The most important thing you need to know is whether
you are betting on the Player, on the Bank or on Tie. Knowing the basic rules will help you
understand what is going on on the baccarat table and will make the game more fun to play for
you. Baccarat is played with eight decks of cards without Jokers. 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". Then he will take the very first card
out and whatever the value of this card is indicates how many cards will
be Burned. The hand closest to nine wins. 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. 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. If both hands are
the same, the game is deemed a tie. 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. If this
sum goes over ten, subtract ten and you will have the
final value. A hand of seven and four has a
value of 1. If
both hands have an 8 or 9, the game is deemed a tie, in
which all Tie Bets win. 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. There are two hands dealt regardless of how many players there are: the banker's hand and the player's hand. The task for you as a player is to bet on the banker's hand, the player's hand, or a draw, which means that the two hands are tied. The other must do so also. The player stands on a total of 6 or 7, but if the player has a total of 5 or less he/she must draw one card (face up)
Now it is the bankers turn. With a total of 7, he stands. 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. 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. Three dealers run the game and one of these is the caller who runs the game and stands between positions 1 and 15. 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 and dealer are both dealt two cards to start with, if either of them has a two card total of 8 or 9 then they must immediately turn over the cards. If the dealer has 0 then he must draw. If the dealer has 9 then he must stand.
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%. 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.
- 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. 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.
- Play Baccarat at Casinos with the lowest commission possible. sometimes casinos will only impose a 4% commission, which brings the House Edge on the banker bet down to only approximately %.
- Manage your money wisely, without a "system". Unless you have a very hearty bankroll, and do not mind losing every bit of it, play with a money management system that does not try to chase after losses.
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