Thursday, 17 May 2012
Baccarat is a thrilling game and is played at major casinos all over the world. In baccarat a player wagers on his/her prediction of who will win or if there will be a tie. A player can bet that his/her hand will win, that the banker’s hand will win, or that the game will be a tie.
The object of baccarat is to predict whether the banker or the player’s hand will be closer to a point value of 9. All 10-value cards count as 0 and aces count as 1. The hand with the highest point value wins.
No baccarat hand can go over 9 points. A “natural” cannot lose and is a 2-card total of 9. An 8 is the second best hand and is also called a natural. If the banker and the player are dealt identical hands, the result is a “stand-off” or tie and neither wins.
Players don’t receive any cards or play against others, but predict which hand will beat the other.
The player and banker each receive 2 cards. Following standard baccarat rules, a third card is dealt to the player and/or banker.
No baccarat hand can go over 9 points. A “natural” cannot lose and is a 2-card total of 9. An 8 is the second best hand and is also called a natural. If the banker and the player are dealt identical hands, the result is a “stand-off” or tie and neither wins.
Aces are worth 1 point and face cards and 10’s are worth 0 points. All other cards are worth their face value. If the cards in a hand total more than 10, a player must subtract 10 points; the amount that remains is the baccarat point value of the hand. Example: 8+8=16. This is 6 in baccarat. A Jack+7=17.
The following chart governs when a player and/or banker will automatically be dealt (i.e. “draws”) a third card in Baccarat. If the point value of the first 2 cards is an 8 or 9, it’s a natural. If the player/dealer is dealt a natural, the game ends and a third card is not dealt to anyone.
| Point Value of First Two Cards: | Action Required |
| 0-1-2-3-4-5 | Draws a third card |
| 6-7 | Stands |
| 8-9 | "Natural hand", no further draw |
| Point Value of First Two Cards: | Draws when the player´s third card is: | Does not draw when the player´s third card is: |
| 0-1-2 | Always draws a card | - |
| 3 | 0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-9 | 8 |
| 4 | 2-3-4-5-6-7 | 0-1-8-9 |
| 5 | 4-5-6-7 | 0-1-2-3-8-9 |
| 6 | 6-7 | 0-1-2-3-4-5-8-9 |
| 7 | Always stands | - |
| 8-9 | Player cannot draw | Player cannot draw |
| Winning Wager | Odds Payout |
| Banker (receives 5% commission) | 1 - 1 |
| Player | 1 - 1 |
| Tie | 8 - 1 |
