Playing Online Baccarat & Baccarat Bonuses

Many players and bettors a like really think that Baccarat is a very complicated game with lots of rules and its only for the rich. What they don’t know is that Baccarat is one of the easiest games around and it is common place to see it at all land based and online casinos. There are a few rules to get use to, but the goal of the game is simple. Closest to 9. As noted above the goal of the game is to see which hand, whether the dealer or the player hand will win. To win, the hand must be closest to 9.

Baccarat Table and Play

With the game of baccarat, the bettor holds the shoe and slides passes one card facedown to the stand-up dealer, who will then pass it to the customer with the largest player bet. The second card is placed next to the shoe and is the first card of the banker. The bettor then deals another player card, then the second banker card. The dealer calls for the player hand it is looked at and then turned over for all to see, at this point the dealer calls out the point total. Next the dealer calls for the banker hand, and the shoe holder looks at the cards and gives them to the dealer. If the player total requires a draw, the dealer will say, “Card for the player,” and the shoe holder will pass a card to the dealer, who will pass it to the player-bettor, who looks at it and passes it back to the dealer, who turns it face up. Finally, if the banker requires a card, the dealer will call, “Card for the bank,” and repeat the process with the shoe holder.

Baccarat Card Values

* The objective of Baccarat is to draw a 2 or 3 card hand that totals closer to 9 than the banker.
* 10, J, K, Q count as 0.
* Aces count as 1 and all other cards are face value.
* If your total is more than ten, you drop the ten. So a 7-8 hand totals to 5.
* There is no such thing as a “bust” hand in Baccarat.

Player Rules

* The banker and the player each draw two cards.
* If either the player or banker totals 8 or 9, both automatically stand with no exceptions.
* If a player stands, the banker hits on a total of 5 or less.
* If a player’s total is 6 or 7, the player stands.
* If the player’s total is 5 or less, the player automatically hits and the banker gives the player a third card.

Banker Rules

If the player receives a third card then the banker draws a third card according to the following:
* If the banker hand totals 0,1,2: Banker always draws a 3rd card.
* If the banker hand totals 3: Banker draws if Player’s third card is 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,0 and not 8.
* If the banker totals 4: Banker draws if Player thirds 2,3,4,5,6,7.
* Banker has a 5: The banker draws if Player thirds 4,5,6,7.
* Banker has a 6: The banker draws if Player thirds 6,7.
* Banker has a 7: The banker stands.
* Once the final cards are dealt, the one with the total closest to 9 wins.

Betting In Baccarat

If you bet on the Player hand you have a house edge of 1.24%. If you bet on the bankers hand the edge is either 0.6%. The Tie Bet pays out 8:1 but it’s very rare and it’s not really a good bet to have.

Mini Baccarat

In most high end European games you will have the cards dealt to the banker and player. In most games you see in the US and the world you have the dealer acting as both the player and the banker. This makes the game go by much quicker and it’s more enjoyable. Fun Fact: In the high end baccarat players are allow to tear or crumple cards after play. Not bad when you are dropping $2000 a hand.

Baccarat Etiquette

When playing baccarat there are a few tips one should consider:

When buying in make sure to place your money on the table as the dealer cannot take it from your hands directly.
* Do not look at your cards if you are the player until all the cards have been dealt. If you are the banker do not look at the cards until the player’s cards have been revealed.
* Players are allowed to keep score of the table results and they can simply use an X in a column beneath the Banker, Player or Tie.