Welcome to Online Casino Gamester: Baccarat
The card denominations are as follows: cards with a face number
of 2 through 9 are worth their numerical value in points, (4 is worth 4
points) face cards like Jacks, Queens and Kings are worth zero points as are
10’s (tens). Aces are worth one point each. The gamblers figure out their
scores by adding up the cards in their hands and ignoring the tens digit
(called modulo 10). To give an example, a hand of the cards 4 and 2 is worth
6 points, while a hand with the cards 8 and 7 is worth 5 points (8+7=15=5).
The “1” in 15 is ignored (as modulo 10) and the score is simply 5. The
highest score, then, that can be gotten is 9, and the term Baccarat is
related to the worst score achievable: zero.
The North American version, punto banco, is played not only in the U.S., but also in Canada, Sweden, Macau, and Australia. In this game, the casino banks the game always. Gamblers can bet on either the Player or the Banker, again, just terms for the hands that are dealt in the game. The cards are dealt face down- one to each the Player and the Banker, then again- giving each designation two cards. Once the deal is completed, the four cards are turned over and the dealer will call the total points for both the Banker and the Player designations (“six to the player, four to the banker.”) From here, the Table of Play is used to figure out if more cards will need to be drawn to either the Player or the Banker. Depending on the cards already dealt, the Player and/or Banker may draw a single card, or stand pat (stand.) The hand with the highest point score will win.
The Table of Play is as follows
· If either the Player or the Banker earn a 8 or a 9 point score on the initial deal, it’s considered a natural win and no further cards are drawn.
· If the Player has a point score anywhere between 0 to 5 points, he’ll draw a single card. If the score is 6 or 7 points, he’ll stand.
· The Banker’s choice depends not only on their hand, but on what the Player did.
o If the Player did not draw a card, and the Banker has points from 0-5, he’ll draw. If his points are 6 or 7 points, he’ll stand.
o If the Player drew a 2 or a 3, the Banker will draw if he has 0-4 points, but stand if he has 5-7 points.
o If the Player drew a 4 or a 5, the Banker will draw if he has 0-5 points, and stand if he has 6 or 7 points.
o If the Player drew a 6 or a 7, the Banker will draw if he has 0-6 points, but stand if he has 7 points.
o If the player drew an 8, the Banker will draw if he has 0-2 points, and stand if he has 3-7 points.
o If the Player drew an Ace, 9, 10, or a face card, the Banker will draw if he has 0-3 points, and stand if he has 4-7 points.
The croupier will deal out the cards according to the preceding Table of Play, and once the cards have finished, will announce whether the win is the Banker or the Player. Losing bets will be gathered up, and winning bets will be paid out- usually at a rate of 1-to-1. For bets that are placed on the Player, even money is almost always the payout, though it is not uncommon for a 95% payout to be given on the Banker, with the remaining 5% as a commission to the house casino. You can find casinos that pay even money on both sides, except for when the Banker wins with 6; resulting in the bets being paid 50%.
There is also a tie option. If, once the cards are all dealt, the Player and the Banker have the same point value, the croupier will announce “Egalite- tie bets win,” at which time if gamblers have bet that the hand would win in a tie, they’d win with odds of 9 for 1, or 8 to 1. The dealers do not touch the bets for either the Banker or the Player.
This form of the game is similar to the chemin de fer version in that both are played around an oval table. A croupier manages the calls, and two additional staff members who collect and pay bets, as well as manage the commissions. Depending on the establishment, anywhere from six to eight card decks are used simultaneously, and shuffled by the staff for the single table. Also like the chemin de fer way of playing, the “shoe” is passed from gambler to gambler allowing each of the bettors a chance to deal the original hands and act as “banker,” though they do not gain anything from the hand- passing the shoe and the role of banker is utterly for posterity at this point. Even while playing the banker, a bettor may bet on the player, or pass the shoe on, if they so choose. The person who bet the most money on the Player hand is the player who turns over the originally dealt cards and announces the total. The croupier for the table instructs the banker on third cards dealt, and announces to the whole table the winning hand.
In Atlantic City Casinos and Las Vegas Casinos, the North American Baccarat game is usually set aside from the main playing floors in specialized playing room, suited to the high rolling players the game is populated by. The privacy of the rooms provide a sense of security for the players who tend to be the highest of rollers, betting tens and thousands of dollars on a single hand. Kerry Packer, the Australian mogul, made Baccarat his known favorite, winning and losing gigantic sums of money over the years. Minimum bets, you’ll find, tend to be significantly higher than other casino card games, usually starting no lower than $25 USD and going as high as $500. Maximum bets, on the other hand, are usually suited to the players of the game, but a standard maximum would be about $10,000 USD a hand.
Like all table games, the house casino will have an advantage, but you’ll find that the simplicity of the game results in, or exists in spite of some of the lowest house advantages in the casinos. The Player bet will carry an advantage of 1.24% and the Banker bet will carry an advantage of 1.06%, in spite of the 5% commission. The tie bet has a remarkably higher advantage at 14.44% when six playing decks are being used. Because of the appeal to high rollers, translation: rich players, games can result in huge wins or losses for the house casino. It’s not uncommon for large games to have an adverse effect on the corporation’s bottom line at the end of the quarter. The effects are even noted in the quarterly reports for the gaming companies that are publicly traded.
Mini-baccarat is a related game that you’ll also find here in the U.S. The game rules are essentially the same, save that the game is played on the floor, at a smaller table. A single dealer will handle all the cards. The pace, then, tends to be much faster than the larger, more private games. In making the game more available to regular gamblers, the minimum and maximum regulations will be lower. Outside of major gambling cities like Atlantic City and Las Vegas, mini-baccarat is usually the only version offered at casinos.
Makccarat is a related, but altered version of the punto banco game. As stated, if either Player or the Banker has an 8 or a 9, a natural win, the game ends immediately. But in this version, if neither has a natural win, then the designation with the lowest point score draws an additional card first. If that designation’s score then increases over the other’s, the other will draw a card as well. If it does not, no additional card is needed and the game is over. If the initial scores are the same, the Player will draw first.