Casino Games: Baccarat

Baccarat is a casino game that is very easy to play. There are three different variants of the game. They are; baccarat chemin de fer, baccarat banque, and punto banco (North American baccarat). It is known to be one of the table games where the house edge over the player is fairly low. The house edge on the best bets is only 1.06% better than the wagering player. In other words, the risk of losing is not as high as with many other casino games. The most important thing to know before betting cash is whether you are betting on a tie, on the player or on the bank. Being a game of chance (punto banco), the only thing you have to do is to decide what hand you think will win. The odds for the different hands vary, and the highest odds the gambler gets if betting on a tie.

Best Online Casino Bonuses

	Royal Vegas	€1,200
	Spin Palace	€1,000
	Betway Casino	$1,000
	City Club	400%
	Casino770	100%

History of Baccarat

The name Baccarat originates from the Italian word baccara and means zero. The French word baccara also means zero. From which country the game originates is still today a dispute between the two countries – both claiming to have created the game. Baccarat is the name for the face cards and the tens, all being worth zero. One might think it’s slightly strange naming a game after the worst possible hand.

The Italians claim that Felix Falguierein, a middle-age man invented the game while using cards to predict the future. The story goes that the game is based on the ritual of the nine Etruscan gods. The nine gods worshiped a blonde virgin that threw a nine-sided dice to determine her faith. If the dice showed an eight or a nine she would become a priest. If she rolled a six or a seven she would forever be forbidden to perform any kind of religious activities. If the dice instead showed a five or less, her destiny would be to walk out into the sea.

The French base their claim on the fact that the game became well established during King Charles VIII’s reign during the late 15^th century when the game was already very popular in France. Baccarat was for a long time reserved, and only played by the upper classes.

Playing Baccarat

Baccarat is played in a demarcated area of the casino; usually it’s the rope around the baccarat table that makes it different from the other casino games. Baccarat players are normally quite well dressed and the minimum bets are often high. A regular baccarat table is approximately the same size as a craps table and there are in general one croupier and two dealers and up to 14 players at one table. Every player, including the player that is dealing, can bet any amount either on the player, the banker or on a tie. The most common is that the dealer bets on the bank.

The game rotates around the table, very much like another table game called craps. The game begins with a cut card from the shoe being dealt. The dealer, or the banker, will then shuffle all decks together and put them back in the shoe. The dealer will then take out the first card out and the value of the card indicates how many cards will be burned. If a player doesn’t want to be dealing, he can give the shoe, also called The Bank, to the next player. The same player keeps dealing until the bank loses. The role of the banker is purely ceremonial and the banker doesn’t really bank the game.

The player that is dealing (the banker) draws two cards face down and sticks them under the shoe and then deals two cards to the player that has bet the highest amount on the player hand, also face down. The player turns the cards, announces the cards value and thereafter gives them back to the banker. The banker will then turn his cards and the croupiers will tell the total card value. The hand closest to nine wins. Depending on the total card value, the casino croupier will tell the banker to deal a third and final card. Here the highest card wins. The casino croupier will then payout the winnings to the players and collects cash from the losers.

Baccarat is in general played with 8 decks with 52 cards. All the numerical cards with a value of less than 10 counts as its nominal value, ace is valued at 1 and tens and face cards are valued at zero. At the start of the game all players bet either on the “player”, the “banker” or on a “tie”.