Baccarat, an easy card game

Posted on July 24, 2008
Filed Under Baccarat |

Many players think that Baccarat is highly sophisticated or complicated. But playing Baccarat is almost as simple as betting on the toss of a coin.

Baccarat is a casino card game that has been traced to 1490, when the Italian baccara was introduced into France, where it was a favorite of nobles during the reign of King Charles VIII. Baccarat was first offered in Las Vegas in 1959, about a year and half after chemin de fer was introduced. Both games already were flourishing in illegal casinos in the East.

There are three accepted variants of the game: baccarat chemin de fer (railway), baccarat banque (or a deux tableaux), and punto banco (or North American baccarat). Punto banco is strictly a game of chance, with no skill or strategy involved. Each player’s moves are forced by the cards the player is dealt. In baccarat chemin de fer and baccarat banque, by contrast, both players can make choices.

The direct ancestor of baccarat as played in the United States, chemin de fer is similar in play. One major difference is that the customers bet among themselves, rather than against the casino, with the house taking a commission from the customer holding the bank. Chemin de fer was offered in Las Vegas briefly in the 1950s, but it was quickly replaced by baccarat. Today it remains popular in European casinos.

Baccarat is a simple game with only three possible results: Player, Banker and Tie. The term ‘Player’ does not refer to the customer and the term ‘Banker’ does not refer to the house. They are just options on which the customer can bet.

Valuation of hands

In Baccarat, cards 2-9 are worth face value, 10s and face cards (J, Q, K) are worth zero (note that 10 modulo 10 is equal to zero), and Aces are worth 1 point. Players calculate their score by taking the sum of all cards modulo 10, meaning that after adding the value of the cards the tens digit is ignored. For example, a hand consisting of 2 and 3 is worth 5 (2 3 = 5). A hand consisting of 6 and 7 is worth 3 (6 7 = 13 = 3) - the first digit is dropped because the total is higher than 10. A hand consisting of 4 and 6 is worth zero, or Baccarat (4 6 = 10 = 0). The name “Baccarat” is unusual in that the game is named after the worst hand, worth 0. The highest score that can be achieved is 9 (from a 4 and 5, 10 and 9, etc).

Baccarat rules

Baccarat is one of the best games you can play. The house edge is low offering the player an almost and even game. There are no strategy decisions that will change the house edge. The house edge for a bet on the Banker is 1.06 percent. The house edge on the Player bet is 1.24 percent. The house edge is 14.36 percent if you bet on the tie. In order to make it more even, a 5 percent commission is collect for a winning Banker bet.

Baccarat or Punto Banco is usually played in a separate casino area. The playing table is about the size of a craps table with three casino dealers and up to 12 or 14 players. Each seat is numbered however there is no seat number 13 on the layout. It is also played out on the casino floor on a blackjack sized table and is called Mini-Baccarat. The rules of the game are the same but in the Mini-Baccarat the players do not touch the cards.

Strategy

Baccarat is a game of luck. There is nothing a player can do to change the outcome of the game. The Banker hand will win slightly more than the Banker hand and that is the reason for the commission that you must pay when betting on the Banker.

Many players like to track the outcome and look for trends. The casino supplies sheets you can use to do this. Since the Banker hand will win more frequently that the Player hand you might want to bet on the Banker if you are betting a trend. You are not obligated to bet on every hand. You could bet on the Banker hand until it losses then wait until the Player hand loses and start betting the Banker hand again.

Keep in mind that you must settle up and pay your commissions for betting the Banker hand before you leave the table. Make sure you have enough money left to do this. Don’t bet your last chips unless your commission is paid.

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