Fun and (Table) Games: Try Baccarat
Posted on November 24, 2007
Filed Under Baccarat Games
Baccarat may be right for you. This game was once played almost exclusively for big bucks, and you can still find large-size high-limit tables in the “baccarat pits,” overseen by three tuxedo-bedecked dealers. Nowadays, “mini-baccarat” is offered with lower minimum bets, at seven- or nine-seat tables run by single dealers. The two versions have identical rules, with minor procedural differences. In mini-baccarat, dealers handle all the cards and place them right-side-up on the table. In standard baccarat, bettors draw cards from the shoe then place them upside down on the table before making a ritual out of turning them over. Rigid conventions dictate whether to hit or stand. Dealers in the one and bettors in the other must follow the same formula.
Check the sign on the table showing the limits. Neophytes are wise to play for $5 or less per round, $10 if this is the lowest bet accepted. Grab a seat and put your cash on the table — don’t hand it to the dealer. The dealer will exchange it for chips.
Two hands, “Player” and “Banker,” are dealt in every round. Each starts with two cards. The totals dictate whether one or both get a third card. The decisions are preordained; they’re complex but only the dealer really has to know them. After the drawing phase, the highest total wins. Aces rank as ones, pictures as 10s, and twos through 10s as their face values. Counts go to a maximum of nine, then repeat. That is, when a total exceeds nine, subtract 10. Three plus four therefore yields seven and three plus six is nine but three plus eight is 11 minus 10 or one.
When a round begins, bet anything between the limits by placing chips on the spots marked “Player” or “Banker” at your position. Some folks monitor patterns and bet accordingly. It’s balderdash. The game is random. On the average, though, Player wins slightly less often than it loses; it pays 1-to-1. Banker wins a bit more often than it loses; it also pays 1-to-1, but the house deducts 5 percent “commission,” which the dealer usually tracks with a set of tokens and asks you to settle occasionally and when you quit.
Most casinos let you bet below the nominal minimum on Tie, as long as you’re at or over the lower limit on Player or Banker. But Tie, a longshot paying 8-to-1, gives the house a huge edge. A few seasoned solid citizens bet Tie, pursuing hunches or systems in which they want badly to believe. Brighter bettors boycott it.
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