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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
Baccarat is a very simple game to play with no decisions
made after a bet is placed. A bet
on the Player pays even money. A bet on a Tie pays 8 to 1. 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. There are many debates pertaining to the history of baccarat, particularly where the game was invented: France or Italy. Eventually,
baccarat evolved into European baccarat and the French game 'chemin de fer'. 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. The result of the die decided her fate. The basis of this game is very similar, but the rules and payoffs are much less
dramatic. 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. 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.
Baccarat Rules
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. The baccarat game is now ready to
play. The hand closest to nine wins. When nobody has a natural additional
cards are drawn to determine the baccarat winner. That is
why the Ten, Jack, Queen and the King count 0 and the Ace only one. 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. If both hands are
the same, the game is deemed a tie. Two components of the game need clearing up at this
point. The other is how drawing a third card is determined. In order to calculate a hand
total, simply add the value of the two cards. For instance, a hand of 6 and 10 will have
a total value of 6. (7 + 4 = 11 - 10 = 1) A hand that has drawn
and composed of three cards is calculated in the same
fashion. 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. Banker shows a 4
Banker Hand must Draw if player's draw card is a
0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7
Banker Hand must Stand if player's draw card is a 0, 1,
8 or 9. 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).
- 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
. 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. 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. Baccarat rules state that winning banker bets are subject to a 5% house commission. 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. 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 hand is greater than 10 then 10 is subtracted from the total, this means that the value of the hand is always 0-9. All picture cards count as 10 and aces count as 1. 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 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%. The banker hand does carry with it a 5% vig, or commission, bringing the House Edge up to 2%.
- 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. 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 %. Any informed player would see that this bet is one of the best in the casino.
- Any system like the Martingale, which is designed to cover losses, should be avoided. If you want to take your chances, then by all means use a system - just know when to quit.
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