Baccarat Basics - How to Play with Wizard's Free Demo

Baccarat, also known as punto banco, is one of the oldest and most popular games in casinos all over the world. It is especially popular among high-rollers and Asian gamblers. In Macau, baccarat is extremely dominant. Although the game seems serious and elegant, it is really as simple as betting on the flip of a coin. With our information you will play baccarat professionallly.

Format

There are three types of baccarat tables:

Big Table Baccarat is played in a snooty roped off area to separate itself from the other games. The players are usually very well dressed and the table minimums are often high. The regular baccarat table is about the size of a craps table with 3 casino dealers and up to 12 or 14 players. Each player, including the player dealing, may still bet on either the player or the banker but it is customary for the dealer to bet on the banker.

The deal will rotate around the table, much like the dice rotate around the craps table. If a player does not want to deal they may pass the shoe to the next player. The same person will keep dealing as long as the banker keeps winning. The person dealing will put two cards, face down, tucked under the shoe, and give the player with the greatest bet on the player the other two cards, face down. This player then looks at the cards and then gives them back to the player who is dealing. Then the player who is dealing will turn over the cards and one of the casino dealers will announce the totals. Depending on the totals, the dealer may then instruct the person dealing the cards to deal a third card. Finally the dealers will pay winning wagers and collect losing ones out of the dealer's tray. The player who actually deals is not assuming any financial responsibility of the other players bets, unlike pai gow, and is just turning over cards.

Mini baccarat has the same rules are big table baccarat. However, unlike the game at the big table, the dealer turns over all the cards, making for a much faster game. The odds are exactly the same as those of the big table, assuming the same number of decks. Mini baccarat is sometimes dealt from a six-deck shoe, changing the odds slightly. It can usually be found in the main casino areas.

Midi baccarat is the same as mini baccarat, except the size of the table is larger, and it is usually found in the high-limit rooms, as opposed to the main casino floor.

Rules

Following are the rules of baccarat. The terminology can be a little confusing. To try to minimize this, when referring to a particular bet or hand, I will use capital letters. In particular Player and Banker refer to bets as well as particular sets of two or three cards each.

1. Usually eight decks of cards are used.
2. Cards are given point values as follows: Ace = 1, 2-9 = pip value, 10 and face cards = 0.
3. Play begins by all players betting either on the Player or Banker. There is also a side bet on a Tie. At some tables there are also side bets on a Player Pair and/or Banker Pair. There are lots of other newer side bets, which I go into in my baccarat appendix 5.
4. After all bets are down, the dealer gives two cards each to the Player and Banker hands.
5. The maximum number of points in both the Player and Banker hands is 9. The way to arrive at the points per hand is to take the total points of each individual card in the hand. If the sum is more than 9, then drop the first digit. For example, if either hand had a 9 and 7, then you would drop the 1 from the total of 16, for a 6-point hand.
6. A third card may or may not be dealt to either the Player or Banker hands, depending on the following rules.
7. If either the Player or Banker have 8 or 9 points, it is referred to as a "natural." If there is at least one natural, then both hands will stand.
8. Otherwise, if the Player's total is 5 or less, then the Player hand will draw one more card, otherwise, with 6 or 7 points, the Player hand stands.
9. If the Player hand stands with 6 or 7 points, then the Banker hand will draw a third card on a total of 5 or less. Otherwise, with 6 or 7 points, the Banker will stand.
10. If the Player does draw a third card, then use the Banker will use his positional advantage to decide whether to take a third card according to his total and the third card drawn to the Player, according to the following table.

The reason the Banker gets paid less than the Player is the Banker enjoys a positional advantage, with more information available to make the decision on drawing a third card.

Following are some rules on dealing procedures. The beginner can skip this part.

• At the start of a new shoe, the dealer will turn over one card. This will determine how many cards the dealer will burn, according to the baccarat value, except a 10 or face card will result in 10 cards burned.
• The cut card will be placed 16 cards from the bottom of the shoe. When the cut card appears, the dealer will finish that hand, play one more hand, and then start a new shoe. If the cut card comes out instead of the first card, the dealer will finish that hand, and then start a new shoe.
• To speed up the game, the dealer will keep track of commissions owed on winning Banker bets using small laminated markers. He will collect all commissions owed at the end of the shoe.