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Baccarat History

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. More recently, a lot of US casinos have offered “Mini Baccarat”.

How to Play Baccarat

The winning hand is the hand that holds two or three cards totaling closest to nine. A bet on a Tie pays 8 to 1. In Mini Baccarat a casino dealer handles the deal. If neither hand is 9 a hand with a total of 8 is a Natural winner. If neither hand is an 8 or a 9 and there is no Tie additional cards may be dealt according to a standard set of rules. It's been suggested that the game was first played with a deck of Tarot cards in the middle ages. The result of the die decided her fate. The Baccarat we know today originated in Great Britain and was then passed along to South America and finally to Nevada. It has kept it's elegant trait and is still one of the most appealing games to the well situated individuals in our society. In casinos based in the Portuguese territory of Macao, near Hong Kong, the popularity of baccarat is unrivaled. A number of casinos have installed a smaller version of the baccarat game played on standard blackjack-sized gaming tables. 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.

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. Baccarat is played with eight decks of cards without Jokers. 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. The baccarat game is now ready to play. Before the cards are dealt each baccarat player has to make his bet. 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. 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. Much like blackjack, two hands are played - a dealer and a player hand pitted against each other. After all is said and done, the hand with a point total closes to nine wins. Essentially, only three bets can potentially be made - A bet for the player's hand to win, the banker's hand to win, or a tie. Two components of the game need clearing up at this point. All cards numbered 2 through 9 are worth their numeric value. I will try to simplify this as much as possible with a few brief guidelines. First off, know that right from the beginning a hand of 8 or 9 automatically wins. If such is not the case, the Player Hand makes the first move. Player shows a 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 or 0 Player Hand must Draw. 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. 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). 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. Although the payoff for winning a draw bet is much more appealing, the chances of actually getting it are pretty low. 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. It may still be a good idea to try it online first, and within minutes you'll feel comfortable enough to play anywhere. 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. If the dealer has 2 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 6 then he must draw if your card is a 6-7. If the dealer has 8 then he must stand.

Tips

- Bet on the Banker Hand most of the time. The banker hand does carry with it a 5% vig, or commission, bringing the House Edge up to 2%. 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.
- Play Baccarat Games with the fewest decks. Many online casinos will offer different versions of baccarat, such as a one deck version, and a 6 or 8 deck version with higher minimum betting amounts. For an eight deck game, the casino advantage on the banker hand is 16%, whereas it is 15% in a six deck game.
- Play Baccarat at Casinos with the lowest commission possible. Any informed player would see that this bet is one of the best in the casino.
- 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. If you want to take your chances, then by all means use a system - just know when to quit.

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