Bacarat

Baccarat originated in the French casinos, around 1830. During this timeframe, it was a game played by the rich or the upper echelon of society only.

Baccarat is a quick game that develops swiftly, once bets are made. Once bets are completed, players do not need to make any additional decisions.

Baccarat consists of 2 hands:

• Banker Hand
• Player Hand

Cards emanate from a "baccarat shoe", which is a repository that has 6 or 8 decks of cards, which are shuffled. A player of the game can make a "baccarat bet" on either of the aforementioned hands OR the tie between the two hands. In a deal, either hand can only have 2 or 3 cards. When a bacarrat hand is termed to be in a "stands" state, this implies that the hand's portion in the game has finished. This is of paramount importance to the game of Baccarat.

The winner of a Baccarat game is recgonized by his final bacarrat score which is calculated via the following algorithm:

• 10's and face (J,Q,K) cards do not count for points. They are scored as 0 points.
• An Ace in Baccarat is worth a single (1) point.
• Cards 2 to 9 are worth their numerical face values scores respectively.
• The score of all Baccarat cards in a hand is summed up. If the baccarat summation score is in excess of 9 (that is, a 2 digit score), then the 1st digit of this 2 digit score is discarded. For example, 9 plus Ace (which sums to 10) translates to 0 points, since we drop the leading '1'. Another example would be an 8 plus a 6 (which sums to 14), would equate to 4 points.

The Baccarat game progresses from this point forward as follows:

• From the "shoe", the dealer deals 2 cards to both hands.
• If either hand results in a score of 8 or 9, it is termed a "natural". In this case, both hands "stand". The final score dictates if there is a winner or there is a tie. The game completes at this point, and the Baccarat player moves on to recovering bets.
• If the game continues on, initially the "player hand" and then the "banker hand" must continue play by observing these explicit rules:

  • If the player's first 2 cards sum to less than 6 points, the player draws another card (i.e., the last card) from the "shoe". The player then "stands".
  • If the banker's first 2 cards sum to more than 6 points, the banker must "stand" and expose. If the initial score is 0, 1 or 2, the banker must draw the last card from the "shoe". If the card is a 3 and the player's 3rd card is between 0 and 9 points, the banker then draws the third card. If the card is a 4 and the player's 3rd card is between 2 to 7 points, the banker draws the 3rd card. If the card is a 5, and the player's 3rd card is between 4 to 7 points, the banker draws the 3rd card. If none of the above manifests, the banker "stands" and the games is completed.

• If both Banker and Player hands get equal scores, the game is a resultant tie and the tie bet gets the win. Otherwise, the bet on the hand has a score closest to 9 points, is deemed the winner.
• Bets are then "recovered". If the winning bet made is by the player or the banker, then he/she recovers even money. This translates to the bet itself and a win that calculates to the amount of the bet. However, if the winner is the banker hand, the casino itself will rake a comission of between an amount of 4% to 5%, which is also known as a "vygorish". If the winning bet results in a tie, then neither the player or banker bets are paid or debited. In Baccarat, a tie bet is typically paid at odds of between 8-to-1 or 9-to-1.