Baccarat is a gambling card game played at many casinos. Today, it is believed to have originated in Italy, later being introduced to France during the reign of Charles VIII who ruled from 1483 to 1498. The game is fairly similar to Faro and Basset. Today, there are three widely accepted variations of the the game. The variations are baccarat chemin de fer or railway baccarat, baccarat banque or a deux tableaux baccarat, and punto banco or North American baccarat. North American baccarat is strictly a game of chance and there is neither skill nor strategy involved. Each player’s moves are forced only by the cards that the player is dealt. In railway baccarat and baccart banque however, both players have different choices they can make, which allows skill to play a greater part in the game. The only three possible outcomes in baccarat are Player, Banker and Tie, which makes it a relatively simple game to learn and play. The term payer does not refer to the customer while banker does not refer to the house. Instead, they are just options on which the customer can bet.
Below is an example of a baccarat game played in a casino.
North American baccarat is played widely in the United States, Australia, Canada, Macau and Sweden. The variation of baccarat is where the casino banks the game at all times. Players have an option of being the player or the banker. These two terms merely designate the two hands that are dealt within each game.
The cards are dealt face down, first to the player who has been designated Player, and second to the player who has been designated Banker. Another card is dealt to the Player and then another is dealt to the Banker. This initail deal leaves each player with two cards in their hand. Both of the cards in each of the two hands is turned over and added together. The croupier then calls the total. An example of this call would be “five to the Player and three to the Banker”.
This position is called the Tableau, or sometimes the table. It is used in play to determine if further cards need to be drawn. Depending on the called values of the two hands, the Player and the Banker may choose to either draw another single card or stand pat. In the end, the hand with the highest total wins.
If either the Player or the Banker reaches a total hand value of either eight or nine in the initial deal, this is known as a natural, and no further cards are drawn. If neither player has such a hand value, play proceeds normally. There are many rules regarding the betting and payout of baccarat, and they occasionally vary from one casino to another. In some casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, baccarat is played in private rooms to ensure greater privacy and security because there are greater stakes involved in the game.
This article was written by Chloe Marine.