Baccarat

The French and Italians both claim to have invented Baccarat. The Italians claim a man named Felix Falguierein first played the game with Tarot cards in the middle ages and the French claim it is their game, called Chemin de fer which is still played today.

Baccarat grew in popularity in Europe and in the 19th century British and French immigrants had spread Baccarat throughout the New World. It was not introduced to the US until the 1950’s when Tony Renzoni brought the game to the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas. From this, another version of Baccarat was born called “Punto Banco” which is the preferred game in North America.

In the casinos, Baccarat was played in VIP areas, which were roped off, with minimum bets often quite high. The croupiers were elegantly dressed and the stakes often thousands of dollars per hand.

Casinos in Las Vegas found that the general public liked the game too, and the VIP areas took up so much space they have developed mini Baccarat that is played at a table about the same size as a Blackjack table. In this version rotating the banker is gone and the dealer handles the cards and the limits are much lower.

Today in the Online Casinos Baccarat is played and you only need to choose which version of the game you would like to play. You can choose the European versions, Chemin de Fer, and Baccarat Banque or North American versions, Punto Banco and the mini Baccarat tables as well. Just pick the game you are most comfortable with although all versions are pretty much the same other than the formalities. Also accompanying amongst other elements of the game are pokers. So, it becomes necessary to choose from the best pokers chips available in the country.

Baccarat Rules

Baccarat is a great game for all skill levels and is relatively easy to master.
The object of the game is to produce a hand totalling 9 or as close to nine as possible.

CARD VALUES 2 to 9 – face value 10 to King – ten Ace – one
When counting your cards in Baccarat you will drop the 10’s digit. So lets say you were dealt a nine and three your total would be two. 9 + 3 = 12 = 2 or if you were dealt a King and an eight your total would be eight. 10 + 8 = 18 = 8.

In a casino you will sit at an oval or kidney shaped table with a dealer and two croupiers provided by the casino. Here we will discuss the game most commonly seen today with a a dealer and 5 to 12 players. The dealer calls players to place there bets and chips are placed on either the player,banker or tie sections of the table. At this point the dealer will deal two cards to the player hand and two cards to the banker hand. Keep in mind here that only one player hand is dealt no matter how many players are at the table.If either hand is a natural eight or nine the hand is won. If there is a tie there is no losing bet by player or bank. Otherwise a third card is dealt but there are rules to the third card draw, it is not a matter of choice.

Baccarat Player Third Card Rules

• If the first two player cards total zero to five another card is drawn but if they total six or seven it stands.

Baccarat Dealer Third Card Rules

• If the player hand is dealt a third card these are the rules the dealer must follow:
• If player third card is 2 or 3 the banker hand will draw on 0 – 4 and hold on 5 – 7
• If player third card is 4 or 5 the banker hand will draw on 0 – 5 and hold on 6 – 7
• If player third card is 6 or 7 the banker hand will draw on 0 – 6 and hold on 7
• If player third card is 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King or Ace the dealer will draw on 0 – 3 and hold on 4 – 7
  It is worth mentioning here that if you place a bet on on the banker there is generally a 5% commission taken from every win. In the case of a tie the casino will payout at the rate of 8:1 on all winning bets and the bets on the player or banker sections in that round remain on the table for the next round.
• These are general rules for the game but they do vary slightly with the different variations of the game and wherever you may play.

Conclusion

Betting on the game is simple with the player having three options, “Player,” “Banker,” or “Tie.” The terms player and banker are actually irrelevant in Punto Banco, they are simply options and do not reflect who is the player or the banker in actual terms. Practice Baccarat at Bodog Casino Now!

Punto Banco

Punto Banco Baccarat is also easy to play, quite similar in structure to Blackjack. Each of the cards from 2-9 are worth their face value in points, Tens, Jacks, Queen and Kings are all worth zero points whilst Aces are given a value of one. Once the initial deal is complete the points are added up, the ten value removed and depending on the total of the cards the player or banker either draws another card or the best are paid out.

For example, if a two and a three are dealt the total points awarded are five, but if a six and seven are dealt this equals thirteen but the ten has to be removed so this particular hand is worth just three. Likewise, a four and a six would actually be worth zero points. A hand earning zero points is actually called a Baccarat.

The player or banker wins immediately if they are dealt a total of eight or nine points, this is called a natural and no more cards are dealt and a new round begins. If the player has between zero and five points they have to draw another card, or if they have six or seven they stand pat. The banker’s rules are more complex and are based on if the player has drawn a card, what that card was and what the banker’s total points tally is.

Payouts are generally 1:1 on player bets and 95% if you bet on the banker, with a Tie usually being around 8:1. Some casinos offer 1:1 payouts on banker bets but in this instance the player would automatically lose if the dealer has six points, regardless of the player’s total.

Only Blackjack beats Baccarat in terms of having a low advantage to the house. Betting on the player option gives the house an advantage of just 1.24%, whilst betting on the banker is a 1.06% house advantage. Gamblers generally stay clear of betting there will be a tie simply because it stacks the odds in the favour of the house to the tune of 14.44% if using six decks of cards.

Choose any of casinos offered here, I personally like the live dealer casinos, there a great place to meet people and you can interact with the dealers, its great. So have fun, good luck and enjoy.

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