How to Play Baccarat

How to Play Baccarat

If you are a fan of the iconic James Bond and have watched his old movies, you have certainly been impressed by his skillful play at the Baccarat.

Today, this game is among the most popular casino games and you can find it in almost every high-quality online casino. The elite of the society are seldom ignited by something of no value, and the game of baccarat is definitely among the favorites of the intelligent and serious gambler.

This does not mean that the game is overly complicated. On the contrary, it is quite entertaining and relatively easy to learn.

Here we give you the opportunity to get acquainted with the Baccarat and its rules and, with a little time and attention, to learn how to play as a true professional.

What is a Baccarat?

Baccarat is one of the oldest casino games. The first details of this game date from the beginning of the 15th century in France and Italy (arguing about the exact origin). In fact, the word baccarat is Italian and means zero.

Why zero? Baccarat is called any hand whose total point value is zero (we will explain how these are calculated, of course).

As you might guess, the Bakar is a game of our favorite cards.

As with any other game, various variants of modified conditions have emerged over the years, but only three variants have remained and are still popular today: Chiming De Far(James Bond favorite), Baccarat Banquet and Punto Banco .

The rules of these three variants are almost the same, except that each card is dealt differently.

Few casinos today mention the variant they offer, but most often you will encounter a Cuban Punto Banco Baccarat (also called a Mini Baccarat and a literal translation is a player-banker), in which one dealer deals all the cards and players bet on one of the three game exit options.

Once popular with French royalty, nowadays the bakery is accessible to everyone, and you will learn how to play and make the most of it in the next sections of the article.

How to play Baccarat?

We will talk about the baker as a whole, but we will pay special attention to the rules at Punto Banco, because this is also the option that you will most often find in online casinos.

The game features four to eight standard deck cards (52 cards each) mixed in one place, according to the preference of the casino (however, the more they are, the more difficult it is for players to keep track of them and count them).

There can be as many as one player betting against the casino, as well as up to 13 players (again according to the limit of the respective casino), each playing for themselves against the "house". Since there is only one dealer at Punto Banco, some casinos significantly limit the number of seats available to players per table.

Each player's seat is numbered. It is an interesting fact that they are from one to 14, but the 13th place is left blank because this number is considered to be bad luck.

Each card, including the dealer, is dealt two cards. Under certain conditions, a third card is dealt, but for a short while.

Each card carries a certain value, and the value of the hand is determined in a specific way. You have three options: to bet on the player (Punto), ie on your own hand, on the banker (Banco), that is on the dealer's hand or on the draw (Tie / Stand-Off). He wins this hand, which is closer to the total value of 9.

It is obvious, but we should still mention that these bets are made blind, that is, before the cards are dealt and opened. Eight or nine points are automatically considered a natural win, and zero points are considered an automatic loss.

We will also explain to you what each of these bets stands. Now let's take a closer look at the process of the game itself, the value of the cards and hands, the rule of the third card, and without feeling very soon you will be fully confident about a great first game of baccarat!

Calculation of points

For starters, here are the value of cards individually:

• Aso (A) - 1 point
• Pop (K), Queen (Q), Valais (J) and Ten (10) - 0 points
• 2 to 9 points correspond to the value of the card (the nine carries nine points for example)

Here is a more specific rule for calculating the total value of points in one hand. Only the rightmost digit of the sum of points in the cards in the hand is taken and this is considered the value of the hand.

Here's an example: if a two-card hand contains eight and nine, that's 17 points, but only the week is counted, that is, a 7-point hand. For example, if there is a pair and a socket in the hand, this is 2 + 0 = 2, there is no other digit on the right, so the sum remains two.

Therefore, a stronger hand is closest to or equal to nine - this is the maximum possible value in the hand of a player or dealer, whatever card combinations there are.

Rule for the third card

A third card is drawn for the player if the total value of his hand is 0 to five.

However, downloading a third dealer card is more specific. Let us note that you can play calmly without knowing this rule, because it is not done by you, but it is nice to know what is going on in the game anyway.

The dealer draws a third card if:

• The value of his hand is from zero to two, no matter what the player's hand is.
• The value of his hand is three points and the player does not have at least eight points.
• The value of his hand is four points and the player has not drawn 0, 1, 8 or 9 on a third card.
• The value of his hand is five points and the player is awarded 4,5,6 or 7.
• The value of his hand is 6 points and the player is awarded 6 or 7.

Even if you find it a little tricky, watching him in the game right now will make you understand and get used to it.

You don't have to slow down to remember this information, it's just nice to know it.

Playing process

Cards are dealt one for a player, one for the dealer, clockwise.

Bets are placed. The cards are opened and the winning hand is announced in the duel with each individual player (if necessary, third cards are drawn, according to the rules we discussed).

You already know that the bigger hand of the two is winning. If there is a draw without anyone betting on it, there is neither a profit nor a win for both parties and their bets are simply returned.

However, if one bets on equality and is right, he wins and any other assumption loses.

House payments and benefits

The banker (Banco / Banker) bet is considered to be the most favorable in terms of profit, over 45 percent, and is almost one-to-one payouts. Why almost? If you win with such a bet, your casino returns your money and 95 percent of it on top because it holds a five percent commission for itself.

This is because the advantage of the house in this case is only 1.06 (the advantage of the house is a measure of how secure the casino is making each player's bets).

With a Punto / Player bet, the payout is one-to-one and the house advantage is 1.24.

With a Tie / Stand-Off bet, the payout is eight times the value of the bet (eight to one), but the casino advantage is 14.44, so this is the least recommended bet type in the game.

Advices

Although the banker's stake is most likely to be hit, in the long run the difference in chances between the banker and the player is very small. The five percent casino commission on winning a banker's bet should not be neglected either, because it also becomes heavy after a long time.

What we are trying to tell you is that the highest chance bet is not always the best and most profitable choice if your goal is to win more after many bets instead of instant win for one, two or three.

As for the bet on equality, unless you are lucky, it is strongly recommended that gambling experts do not make that bet. Even though the payout is huge (as we mentioned, if you feel lucky ...), the casino has a much better chance of taking your money.