Introduction
Baccarat ( pronounced bah-kah-rah ) is the casino game favored by the wealthiest gamblers in the world. Because of this, there is a mystique surrounding this game which causes many novices to shy away from playing, but it is actually a very straightforward and fun game to play. Baccarat is similar to blackjack in that the player and the banker are both trying to reach a certain total. In the case of Baccarat, the magic number is 9 compared to Blackjack’s 21. Baccarat is different in that you can bet on either of the two hands on the table, either the player’s or the banker’s, or you can bet that the player and the banker will tie. More importantly, you have no decisions to make about the game except for which hand to bet upon.. The play proceeds automatically based upon the drawing rules.
Card Values
In Baccarat, when computing the value of a hand, the cards are valued as follows.
Aces count as 1. All number cards, 2 through 9 count their face value. Tens, jacks, queens and kings all count as 0. If the cards total more than 9, the tens digit is dropped. Thus two fives would count as follows: 5+5 = 10, the 1 is dropped leaving 0.
Game Play
To play Baccarat, simply place your chips on any one of the three available bets: Banker, Player or Tie and then press the ‘Deal’ button. The dealer will then deal the appropriate number of cards to the Banker’s and the Player’s hand. Once all cards are dealt, the values of the hands will be compared and the hand closest to 9 will win. A winning Player bet will pay 1 to 1. A winning Banker bet will pay 0.95 to 1. A winning Tie bet will Pay 8 to 1. For more information on how the hands are dealt, see below.
Drawing of the Hands
Initially, each hand, the player and the banker, is dealt two cards. The value of the resulting hands determines whether either or both receive a third card. If either the Banker or the Players first two cards total an 8 or 9, then that hand is referred to as a natural and no more cards are dealt. A natural 9 beats anything else but another natural 9. Similarly, a natural 8 loses to a natural 9 but beats everything else. If neither hand has a natural, then a third card may be dealt to one or both hands depending on the rules below:
When the Players hand is 5 or less then the player draws a third card otherwise the player stands.
If the player stands (on a 6 or 7), then the banker draws a card if the banker’s hand is 5 or less.
If the player draws a card then the banker draws a card if one of the following is true:
- The banker hand is worth 2 or less.
- The bankers hand is worth 3 and the players 3rd card is anything but an 8.
- The bankers hand is worth 4 and the players 3rd card is anything but 0,1,8,9
- The bankers hand is worth 5 and the players 3rd card is a 4,5,6 or 7
- The bankers hand is worth 6 and the players 3rd card is a 6 or 7
