Baccarat is a game that not many people here in America play. It’s an odd game, with not much presence in modern casinos. Many casinos do offer Baccarat, but it’s usually just 1 or 2 tables tucked away in a back room somewhere.
Baccarat is definitely not the most popular game, but it is gaining fans slowly. With online gambling being what it is today, baccarat also got a large boost when more and more online casinos started picking it up.
The rules of Baccarat are a little more complex than most comparable casino games. In baccarat, you choose between the banker or the player to bet on. 2 hands are dealt, and then the bets are placed on the most promising looking hand.
The payout for these bets is 1:1, and the only difference is that there is a 5% fee for winning banker bets, which establishes the House Advantage. Each hand consists of 2-3 cards. The dealer will place 2 face-down cards tucked under the shoe, and gives the other 2 cards face down to the player with the biggest player or Punto bet.
The player looks at the cards and hands them back to the dealer, who in turn turns them over to reveal the results.
At this point, if either hand has a total value of 8 or 9, then it’s called a Natural, and no additional cards are dealt. If the hands are not Natural, then the dealer may hand out a 3rd card, depending on the value of the hand.
The third card rule is made by each individual casino, so it varies quite a bit. Once everything is completed, the hand with the highest total count wins.
Now that you know how the game works, you should learn the rules. First of all, baccarat is played with a 6 or 8-deck shoe. The values for cards are a bit different than most other games. Face cards and 10’s have no value (0), while aces are worth 1. All other cards are counted at their face value.
Keep in mind that only single-digit values count. So, if you have a 13 or 23, the first digit would be dropped, making either one 3. Bets can be made on either Banco, Punto, or Standoff, which is Bank wins, Player wins, and Tie, respectively.
A 3rd card can be dealt to both the player and banker, depending on the situation. Casinos have long lists of 3rd-card dealing rules that they follow. Their rules are based solely on the value of the cards in their hands.
There’s no need to memorize this information, especially if you will be playing online. I could list it all here, but there’s really no need to even know these rules, especially if you plan on playing baccarat online where everything is automated.
* Face cards and tens count as 0;
* Aces count as 1,
* All other cards count as face value.
Learn more reading all the articles in the Baccarat section.
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