Baccarat has a long and illustrious history and has been one of the most popular card games for hundreds of years. The game was developed in France following the introduction of the Italian game Baccara to the country in around 1490.
Since then, there have been three slightly different versions of Baccarat available, Punto Banco (also known as North American Baccarat), Baccarat Banque and Chemin De Fer (also known by the nickname Chemmy). Of the three types, Punto Banco is a game of complete chance, whereas the other two games allow the players to use a little strategy and skill.
In a typical casino however, the version you will most likely encounter is the Punto Banco version of the game.
What is Baccarat?
Essentially, Baccarat is a card game where two hands, that of the dealer and the player, are compared against each other to see whether either the player or dealer wins, or if the final result is a tie.
In Baccarat, cards have a point value assigned to them depending on their face value. The cards from 2 to 9 are worth their face value, aces are worth one point however 10 and all picture cards have no value.
The key thing to remember about Baccarat is that hands are valued according to the digit furthest right of the sum of the cards when added together. For example; if you have a hand of 2, 3 and 4 in baccarat, then this would amount to a hand value of 9. If you had a hand of Jack, 3 and 5, this would amount to a hand value of 8 (as jacks have zero value) and lastly, if you had a hand of 8 and 6, this would amount to a hand value of 4 (as the total is 14, but you only use the rightmost figure from the number, discounting the '1' in the tens column, thus the hand value is 4).
Once you understand these basics of the game, the next thing to get to grips with is how the hand values affect what happens on the table and how they compare against the dealers hand.
How do I play Baccarat?
The important thing to note about Baccarat is that it is not imperative for you as the 'player' to win the hand, in order to win the bet. In Baccarat, you bet on what the outcome of the hand will be; either the player wins, the dealer wins or the tie. It is perfectly plausible to back the dealers hand to beat your hand and walk away with a profit if that turns out to be the case and your hand loses.
The game sees the player and the dealer dealt two cards initially and if either do not score a 'natural' that is a score of 8 or 9 from their two cards, a tableau decides what the next stage of the game is.
The first thing to note is the player's rue which states that if the player has an initial total from their two cards of between 0 and 5, then they should draw a third card from the pack, however, if the player has an initial total of 6 or 7, then they would stand.
The tableau then describes what actions need to take place in order for the hand to follow through to a natural conclusion. These rules can be somewhat complex to remember, but many Baccarat games will display a simpler version of the rules on the gaming table, so that players will understand what happens at each stage of the game based on the hand value of their cards.
Essentially, once the player and banker has been dealt their first two cards, if they or the banker receive an 8 or 9 then they automatically stand and do not receive a third card.
If the player scores 0-5 then they hit (take another card), if they have a score of 6 or 7, then they stand.
Once a player stands, the banker hits on any total of 5 or less.
There is a a structure to whether a player or banker hits - but the good news is that the game will only let you draw a card from the pack when you are allowed to do so. This makes the game very easy to play and pick up quickly, even if you have not played before.
After both players have drawn all their cards from the pack, the final hands are compared and the player with the highest value (using the rightmost number) is declared the winner, or occasionally there is a tie.
The great thing about Baccarat from a betting perspective is that you don't even have to understand how the game works. You simply bet on the banker, player or the tie option, play through a hand and then you can see if your bet won.
Bets on the banker pay at around 19/20, which is just shy of even and translates into a 5% commission for the casino. Bets on the player pay out at even money and bets on the tie pay out at 8/1 and in the event of a tie, bets on both the player and banker are pushed.
What are my chances of winning at Baccarat?
One of the most pleasing aspects of Baccarat as a game is that it tends to offer a relatively low house edge if you make your bets predominantly on the player, or the banker. The banker has a slightly increased chance of winning over the player on every hand, but they pay out at slightly poorer odds (19/20 compared to even money) compared to backing the player.
Therefore it makes sense to focus your bets in Baccarat on either the player or the banker.
While the odds on the tie are appealing (8/1 usually), the chances of hitting a tie are considerably less than that and as such, this bet offers the house a far greater chance of success than the other two types of bet you can make in the game.
Baccarat is one of the most historic and enjoyable casino games because it is relatively easy to play and it requires far greater knowledge on behalf of the dealer (or the computer software) than it does of the player, who only really needs to place the bet and watch how the hand plays out as there is no strategic element involved in the variant played most often in casinos.
Where to play Baccarat?
Baccarat does not appear to be as popular online as it is offline. If you want to try playing Baccarat online, start here.
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