Baccarat is the casino card game also known in some areas as “Lucky 9.” Many people think that the poker and black jack tables in casinos are those that involve the highest stakes. In reality, baccarat is the game favored by high rollers because one can win (or lose!) huge amounts of money in a very short time.
In baccarat, the only control a player has over his winnings is where he’ll bet. During play, the rules for hitting are fixed, and once a hand has been dealt, the die is cast, so to speak.
The object of baccarat is to bet on the entity (Player or Banker) which gets a score of 9 or closest to 9. In this game of chance, aces count as 1, and 10s, together with all types of face cards, count as 0. Unlike in black jack where a 9 and a 7 total 16, in baccarat, these two cards will only give you a total of 6.
Likewise, a 4 and an 8 will give you 2, not 12. In short, the score of the cards (there can be 2 or 3 for any entity) cannot have a combined total of greater than 9. The best hand you can possibly get is one where the first two cards dealt for the entity you bet on total 9.
When this happens, the outcome is either a sure win or at least a draw (tie) with the other entity when their first two cards also total 9. A score of 8 or 9 with the first two cards is called a “natural.” An entity that’s dealt a 7 also stands.
Baccarat Equipment
A big baccarat table can seat up to 14 players, and the game is supervised by a croupier. There are also two dealers who hand the payouts to the winning players and collect losing bets from the losing players. There’s a “shoe” where shuffled cards from 8 decks are placed and from where the croupier draws the cards for each deal. The used cards are dropped in a discard box in the middle of the table layout. Dealers sometimes use large plastic or wooden “palettes” for delivering and gathering cards to and from table areas they can’t easily reach.
A mini-baccarat table is a mini version of the big one and normally seats only 7 players. The conduct of the game is still the same, although there’s usually just one dealer for dealing the cards and paying and collecting bets. Mini-baccarat tables also have lower minimum and maximum limits, and the pace is faster. This is an ideal place to start if you’re still learning the ropes.
Betting and Baccarat Play
A Baccarat player bets on either the Banker, the Player, or on the Draw. Again, the rules for hitting are fixed and a customer would just have to wait for the croupier to deal the cards accordingly. After a time of observing at the tables, you’ll soon understand which situations call for a third card and which don’t.
If you bet on the Player side and it wins, you will be awarded an even payment. On the other hand, if you bet on the Banker, the payment is 95%. That is, the house gets a 5% commission for every win on the side of the Banker. A bet on a Draw or a Tie, which happens rarely, gives you a payout of 8:1.
You might ask, why not bet on the Player each time so you’ll always get an even payment? The simplest explanation is that the entity Banker gets a slight advantage over the Player, and taxing 5% on those bets with an edge assures the casinos of their profit.
There are a lot of variations on baccarat, depending on which casino you are playing in. There are also online versions of the game, with some allowing minimum bets of as little as a dollar.
