Baccarat

During a game of Baccarat, two hands are compared to each other; the Punto hand and the Banco hand. As a player, you are free to bet on any of these hands. You can also elect to bet on there being a tie between Punto and Banco. Once you have made your bet, you don’t make any other decicions at the table. Baccarat is not like Black Jack where each player have their own hand and gets to make decisions concerning it.

Baccarat is played at all stake levels, but is strongly associated with high stakes gambling and some casinos even have special rooms for high-roller baccarat.

Baccarat is a card game played with one or several standard (French) 52 card decks. It is closely related to the game Punto Banco, but Baccarat is considerably older and was invented in Europe, while Punto Banco is a off-shoot of Baccarat that developed in the Americas.

The deck(s)

Baccarat is usually played with one, six or eight decks. The decks are of the standard (French) type with 52 cards. No jokers or other wild cards are used in standard Baccarat.

Card value

This is the point system for Baccarat:

• King 0 points
• Queen 0 points
• Jack 0 points
• Ten 0 points
• Nine 9 points
• Eight 8 points
• Seven 7 points
• Six 6 points
• Five 5 points
• Four 4 points
• Three 3 points
• Two 2 points
• Ace 1 point

How much is this hand worth?

1. Add together the point values of the cards included in the hand.
2. If the sum is above 9, the rightmost digit will be the value of the hand.

Examples:

• A hand consisting of a King and a five is worth 0 points + 5 points = 5 points.
• A hand consisting of a five and an eight is worth 3 points, because 5 points + 8 points = 13 points and the rightmost digit give you the value of the hand.

Which hand wins?

The best possible hand in Baccarat is a hand worth 9 points. The second best is the 8 point hand, followed by the 7 point hand, and so on.

Example:

The Banco hand is a four and a three; 4 points + 3 points = 7 points.

The Punto hand is a six and a Jack; 6 points + 0 points = 6 points.

In this situation, the Banco hand wins, because it is the one closest to 9 points.

How to play Baccarat

1. All the players at the table place their bets. As a player, you can bet on the Banco hand, the Punto hand or Egalité. If you bet on Egalité, you win when there is a tie between Banco and Punto.
2. The dealer gives Punto and Banco two cards each, face up.In some situations, this is enough to crown a winner. In other situations, the dealer will need to deal a third card. The rules for this depends on which type of Baccarat your are playing, so it is important to check the table rules before you start betting.
3. If the Punto hand wins, the dealer collects all bets made on Banco and Egalité, and pay out wins for all wagers on Punto.

If the Banco hand wins, the dealer collects all bets made on Punto and Egalité, and pay out wins for all wagers on Banco.

If there is a tie between Punto and Banco, the dealer collects all bets made on Punto and Banco, and pay out wins for all wagers on Egalité.

When is the third card handed out?

As mentioned above, there are situations when a third card will be given to one or both hands. The rules governing this vary from one table to another, so it is important to inform oneself before making any bets.

Below, you will find a set of rules that are fairly common:

Punto

• Punto gets a third card if the two-card hand is worth 0-5 points.
• If Punto’s two-card hand is worth 6-9 points, Punto will >not> get a third card.>

Banco

• Banco gets a third card if the two-card hand is worth 0-3 points.
• If Banco’s two-card hand is worth 4 points, Banco gets a third card if Punto’s hand is worth 2-7 points.
• If Banco’s two-card hand is worth 5 points, Banco gets a third card if Punto’s hand is worth 4-7 points.
• If Banco’s two-card hand is worth 6 points, Banco gets a third card if Punto’s THREE-CARD hand is worth 6 or 7 points.
• Banco never gets a third card when the two-card hand is worth 7-9 points.

Payments

Always check the paytable before you start betting, because they can vary from one table to the next.

This is one example of a commonly used paytable for Baccarat: