Baccarat is an exciting card game that
was a featured plot device in the James Bond novel Casino Royale by Ian Flemming. It originated in Italy during the middle
ages and derives its name from the Italian word for "zero", because the face cards and Tens – which normally are high
value cards in most games – are counted as zero in Baccarat. At some point it migrated to France where it was embraced
by the aristocracy. Today, Baccarat is a favorite game of high rollers and famous gamers around the world.
The object
is to bet on which of two hands (the "Player" or the "Banker") will have a score closest to 9. You can bet on either hand
– or you can bet on a tie.
Dealing and Scoring
Baccarat is played with eight decks of cards, shuffled
and placed in a "shoe". Each hand will receive at least two cards, but no more than three. The first and third cards dealt
from the shoe constitute the Player's hand and the second and forth cards constitute the Banker's hand. If required, a third
card is dealt to either hand according to specific rules outlined in the charts below. All cards are dealt face up.
Card
values are:
Face cards and tens count as 0;
Aces count as 1,
All other cards count as face value.
The
score of each Hand is the last digit of the sum of the card values in the hand. Thus, a hand with an 8 and a 9 would have
a score of 7 (since 8 + 9 = 17). This is why Tens and Face cards count as zero – only the last digit counts, so a 10
has a value of zero. The scores will always range from 0 to 9 and, unlike Blackjack, it is impossible to bust.
Examples
of point scoring:
Example 1: 9 + 0 = 9, the score of this hand is 9.
Example 2: 4 + 0 + 9 = 13, the score of
the hand is 3.
A Natural
Since the object of each hand is to get as close to 9 as possible, getting a score
of 8 or 9 with the first two cards is a good thing. This is called a "natural", and if EITHER hand scores a natural, BOTH
hands must stand. Naturally (pardon the pun), the only score that will beat a natural 8 is a natural 9.
Game Play
Two cards are dealt face up to both the Player and the Banker. If one hand has a natural, that hand wins. If both
hands have a natural, the higher natural wins. If both hands have the same natural, it's a tie.
If neither the Player
nor the Banker has a natural, then play goes to the Player.
The Player's hand stands on a score of 6 or 7. If the
score is less than 6, the Player draws one card and receives a new score based on the value of all three cards.
Rules
of Play for Player
When the Player's first two cards total: Player Action
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 DRAW
6, 7 STAND
8, 9 STAND (natural)
Now it is the Banker's turn. When the Player stands on 6 or 7 (and therefore did not
draw a third card), the Banker's play is quite straightforward. The Banker must draw on scores of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 and
stand on 6 or 7.
Rules of Play for Banker when Player Stands on 6 or 7
When the Banker's first two cards total:
Banker Action
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 DRAW
6, 7 STAND
8, 9 STAND (natural)
However, if the Player did draw
a third card, the Banker's play gets more interesting. In this case, the Banker stands on a score of 7 but draws or stands
on scores of 6 or less depending on the value of the Player's THIRD CARD (not on the score of the Player's HAND). The rules
governing whether the Banker draws or stands are as follows:
Rules of Play for Banker when Player Draws a Third Card
Banker's
Score Player's Third Card
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
7 S S S S S S S S S S
6 S S S S S S D D S S
5 S S S S D D D D S S
4 S S D D D D D D S S
3 D D D D D D D D S D
2 D D D D D D D D D D
1 D D D D D D
D D D D
0 D D D D D D D D D D
S = STAND D = DRAW
Winning
The hand with the highest score closest
to nine wins.
Winning bets on the Player's hand are paid at 1-to-1.
Winning bets on the Banker's hand are
also paid at 1-to-1. However, a winning Banker bet pays a 5% commission to the House. Each time you win when betting on the
Banker, 5% of the winning amount is automatically deducted from your Account balance.
If both hands result in equal
scores, the Tie bet wins, paying 8-to-1. When a tie occurs, all bets on either the Player or the Banker are a push (neither
paid nor taken).
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