How To Play Baccarat.

When you read other articles or information on baccarat, you will note that they will speak of player and banker bets, in the context of baccarat, the term ‘player’ does not always refer to the customer and the term ‘banker’ does not always refer to the house. For clarity we have used the terms Punto and Banco. This article refers to North American Baccarat (AKA Punto Banco), as opposed to ‘Baccarat Chemin de Fer’ or ‘Baccarat Banque’- both of which are more strategic than the Punto/Banco Version

Baccarat is also known as Punto Banco, and is played as a community game, where all players are concerned with the outcome of the same hand. The object of the game is to manage to get an amount as close to nine as they can. Baccarat is played at a table, which is similar in size to a craps table, there are usually up to 3 croupiers and between 12 and 14 players involved at a time. With online versions of the game, the cards are dealt by virtual croupiers and the process is automatic.

In principle, there are two types of bet that can be made when playing baccarat; player bets or banker bets (also called Punto and Banco bets respectively). There is a 3^rd, little used, bet called the Standoff. At certain bricks-and-mortar casinos the players are allowed to deal the cards themselves, in turn, but this is fairly unusual as it often results in accusations of foul play.

Every player, including the dealer (unless the dealer is a casino employee), can place either a Punto or Banco bet, but customarily, the dealer is expected to place a Banco bet.

Players are able to opt-out of dealing; they do this by passing the ‘Shoe’ to the subsequent player. The shoe will remain with the dealing player for as long as the Banco bets come in. If a Punto bet wins, then the shoe passes on to the next player.

Six-deck or eight deck shoes are played in Baccarat. For each round, two hands are dealt, with the aim being to place bets on which of these hands is going to win, although you can also place a bet if you believe the hands are going to draw evenly.

These bets are similar to the betting of red or black in a game of roulette, with the pay-off odds being 1:1, except when placing the standoff bet which pays-out at 8:1 or 9:1 depending on the particular casino you play at.

The difference that exists between the Punto bets and the Banco bets are that when a player wins a Banco bet, then they will have to pay the house a rate of 5% on all earnings- this is how the casinos make their money from baccarat.

The 5% charge is placed on the Banco bets because over time, these bets win slightly more often than the Punto bet, on average, over an 8-deck game the Banco hands will win 3 or 4 hands more than the player hands.

Every hand dealt consists of a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 3 cards. The individual whose turn it is to deal must place 2 cards face down, under the shoe, and give the player who has placed the highest bet on the Punto bet another 2 cards face down.

The player who placed the highest value Punto then looks at the cards they have been dealt, handing them back to the dealer once they have seen the cards. Following this, the dealer will then turn over each pair of cards while another member of the casino staff will call the results by announcing the winner.

When either of the hands totals an 8 or a 9 (with 9 being the most valuable), then these hands are known as ‘neutral’ and no more cards can be dealt to that hand. If the hand is not a natural, then depending on the value of each of the hands, the casino staff will order the dealer to deal an extra card to that hand. The issuing of the 3^rd   card follows strict rules, which are universal across the gambling world.

The hand with the highest value wins once the dealing has been completed. The casino staff will collect in all the losing betting chips and then pay-out to the winners. The player who has been dealing the card is not responsible for paying-out, they are considered to be playing against the casino, and thus not eligible to touch the money.

RULES:

1. Figure cards and 10’s are considered as 0’s, they have no value.

2. All other cards are counted according to their face value, e.g. 2’s are worth 2, 3’s are worth 3…

3. Aces are value as 1.

4. The cards suit is irrelevant to the game.

5. Double digit values are invalid.

6. If a count reaches into double digits then the left digit value is dropped. So, if there is a deal of 3 and 3, then the 3^rd card is an 8, that adds up to a value of 14, which is an invalid value, the 1 is then dropped from the 14 and the count becomes 4- so that hand has a value of 4.

To begin the game players must make one of three bets, Banco, Punto or Standoff. The dealer deals two cards to each hand- that is one to the player and one to the banker.

The aim of the game is to bet on the hand that you believe will have the greatest value, remembering that the maximum value that can be obtained is 9 as double figures do not count.

A 3^rd card can then be dealt to both the Punto and the Banco; this process is based on the three-card rules as outlined below:

Player’S THIRD-CARD-RULE:

1. If only one of the hands, Punto or Banco, have a total value count of 8 or 9, then no more cards can be dealt. The hand or hands that have totalled 8 or 9 are called naturals, and when a natural has been dealt then the hand is over. This results in a win for the natural hand, unless both hands are natural, in which case it is a draw, unless the naturals are of different values, in which case the highest value natural wins.

2. If the Punto hand is equal to or less than 5, then the Punto hand is able to draw a 3^rd  card.

3. If the Punto hand has not been able to draw a 3^rd card, then the Banco must stand (i.e. not draw any more cards) if he has a 6 or more, but may take a 3^rd card if he has a total of 5 or less. If the player takes the third card, then the bankers move is determined by the following rules:

BANK’S THIRD-CARD-RULE:

• When the Punto did not draw a card, the Banco draws if he has 0-5, and stands if he has 6-7.
• If the Punto drew a 2 or 3, the Banco draws if he has 0-4, and stands if he has 5-7.
• If the Punto drew a 4 or 5, the Banco draws if he has 0-5, and stands if he has 6-7.
• If the Punto drew a 6 or 7, the Banco draws if he has 0-6, and stands if he has 7.
• If the Punto drew an 8, the Banco draws if he has 0-2, and stands if he has 3-7.
• If the Punto drew an ace, 9, 10, or face-card, the Banco draws if he has 0-3, and stands if he has 4-7.

 Note: it is not obligatory that players understand these rules, as they are implemented automatically by the casino.

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