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Rules of Baccarat
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Baccarat is one of the most popular of the casino games in all of Europe. The reason for this may be because of the heritage associated with the game. Baccarat comes from the word baccarat which in Italian means zero. The zero refers to the value that is given to the tens and the face cards.
The game of baccarat can trace its roots to a version that was often played with a deck of tarot cards during the Middle Ages. The game that we know today can boast of Italian origins around the year 1490, and by the early part of the 16th century was the game that those of the French nobility were known to play.
The French game of Chemin de Fer and the version of European baccarat eventually evolved from these beginnings. The American version of baccarat has roots in Great Britain. It traveled to the United States by way of South America. The Capri Casino in Havana, Cuba is where the game is said to have its origins of the version that is played in the US today.
The Grand Atmosphere of Baccarat
The origins of baccarat are steeped in the nobility of Europe and when the game was first introduced to the US in Nevada during the latter part of the 1950s, they tried to keep the aura of glamour to the game. You can find the region of baccarat in a casino in an area that is roped off and is watched closely. Sometimes you can even find armed guards surrounding the area perhaps due to the ridiculously high wagers that are made.
Though the game may attract high rollers with its atmosphere of extravagance, it is a simple game that relies purely on chance and it doesn’t require much skill for a player or a dealer.
The Set-Up
When you see a baccarat table you will find 14 seats for players to sit. All of the seats correspond to a number that can be found on the layout of the table. The numbers are from 1 15 and the number 13 is not played to avoid bad-luck. All tables of baccarat have 3 dealers. The dealer who is found in the centre is the one called the croupier. He is the one who makes the call for each hand as the cards are dealt and he is the one who directs the process of the game. The two dealers on either side of the croupier are the ones who are responsible to pay off the winning bets.
How to Play the Game
To play baccarat you will need 6 or 8 decks of cards that are complete. The cards aces up to the nines values are determined by their face value. The face cards and the tens are valued at zero. In instances when two cards equal more than a count of 10, you must subtract ten and what is left is referred to as the card count. If you had a 7 plus 6 combined, it would count as 3. If you add 7 and 6 you get 13 and when you subtract 10 only 3 remains.
The highest any hand in baccarat can have is a total of 9. When a player has a total from 2 cards equaling 9, it is considered a natural and cannot be beat. If you have a total of 8 in any two card hands, this is the second best hand you can have and is also called a natural. The dealer shuffles and reshuffles the cards and places them into a box that is covered and referred to as the shoe. All players can have a chance to hold the shoe and the croupier will explain just what is expected of you.
The player who is holding the shoe is to wager against the bank, but you may decline the shoe and pass it to the next person. The croupier will get the cards from the one holding on to the shoe and then he will put them in the right boxes. He will then declare a winner or he might call for another card.
When the bank and the player both have the same hand, it is considered a tie and neither the player nor the bank wins. When there are no natural hands, the hand of the player is played first. When the two cards dealt first equal 6 or 7, there are no more cards drawn. If the cards total 5 or below another card may be drawn. There can be only 3 cards drawn for any hand, and when the two hands are played, whoever has the closest hand to 9 wins the pot.
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