Baccarat is
an exceedingly popular game at
both brick and mortar casinos
and online casinos. That is
probably due to the relative
simplicity of the game.
Baccarat is believed to have
been created by the Italians
and spread to France during
the reign of France’s Charles
VIII. Like slot machines,
Baccarat is a game of pure
chance, there is no skill
involved. It is a card table
game but very unique in game
play. No matter how many
players are present only two
hands are dealt during
Baccarat: the player hand and
the banker hand. The objective
is to guess which hand will
have the greatest value and
players are free to bet on
either hand; they are not
limited to betting on the
‘player’ hand.
Card
values in Baccarat are not
tallied in the way one might
expect. The highest total card
value possible is 9 and the
lowest total card value
possible is zero. The name for
a hand worth zero is Baccarat.
Oddly enough the game is named
after the worst possible hand.
Cards 2 through 9 maintain
their face value. An ace is
worth 1. Face cards and 10s
are worth zero. During
Baccarat, a hand is made of
two cards minimum and three
cards at the most. There are
even special rules to adding
card values during Baccarat.
If the value of the cards
exceeds 10, the first digit in
the number is dropped.
Example: 2 + 5 = 7 or 8 + 9 =
7 (the 1 in front of 17 is
dropped and the value is now
7).
The basics of
Baccarat are simple, perhaps
the key to the games
popularity, however there are
a few additional rules that
complicate the game and keep
it exciting. To begin, both
the player and the banker are
dealt two cards face down.
Next, both hands are revealed.
The value of the initial hand
determines whether the player
of banker must draw an
additional hand, they have no
choice in the matter. If the
initial value for either the
player or the banker hand
amounts to 8 or 9, also called
a natural, no further cards
are added to the hand. Rules
are simple for the player
hand: if his initial hand
amounts to 6 or 7 he does not
draw, if the value is 0-5 he
must draw a single card.
Things become more
complicated for the banker’s
hand and what he does largely
depends on the player. If the
player does not draw a card
and the bankers initial hand
amounts to 0-5, the banker
must draw a card. If the
banker’s initial hand is 6 or
7, in this situation he
stands. If the player is
forced to draw and he draws a
2 or 3, the banker draws if
his initial value is 0-4, but
stands if his initial value is
5-7. If the player is forced
to draw and he draws a 4 or 5,
the banker draws if his
initial value is 0-5, but
stands if his initial value is
6-7. If the player draws a 6
or 7, the banker draws if his
initial value is 0-6, but
stands if his initial value is
7. If the player is forced to
draw and he draws an 8, the
banker draws if his initial
value is 0-2, but stands if
his initial value is 3-7.
Finally, in the event that a
player draws an Ace, 9, or
face card, the banker will
draw if his initial value
amounts to 0-3, but he will
stand if he has a value of
4-7.
On this simple
premise, gamblers can place
bets on which ever hand they
think will attain the highest
value. Winning bets are
usually paid out according to
house rules. This simple game
continues to provide hours of
gambling excitement.
