How to Play Baccarat

Baccarat is a community game, where all players are concerned with the outcome of one hand only. Despite its simplicity - the object of the game is to get as close to nine as possible - baccarat is considered a glamorous game played by high rollers, princes and James Bond.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Card Tables
• Folding Chairs
• Playing Cards
• Poker Chips

1. Lose your inhibition about entering the high-roller, cordoned-off baccarat area.

2. Get yourself a snack from the counter in the back of the room, if available. Casinos often provide sandwiches and cookies for the high-rolling baccarat players.

3. Sit down at the baccarat table. Take any seat available.

4. Ask the amount of the table minimum. Leave if the amount is too high; change your money into chips if it's acceptable.

5. Present your player's card to the pit boss.

6. Hear the dealer say "Shuffle" and watch the complicated interweaving of the cards.

7. Take the yellow cut card and cut the six or eight decks in half.

8. Watch the dealer place the shuffled cards in the shoe and remove one card.

9. Take the shoe, if it's passed to you, and pull out cards as instructed by the dealer.

10. Place your bet in the square marked either Player, Banker or Tie.

11. Listen as the caller says "Card for the player" followed by "Card for the banker" to indicate when you should pull a card out of the shoe. Listen as he repeats himself.

12. Count your money to be sure you were paid correctly - if you won.

13. Place your bet in the square marked either Player, Banker or Tie if you wish to continue playing.

Tips & Warnings

• The one card placed faceup on the table indicates how many cards the dealer will burn. If the card turned up is a four of clubs, the dealer will burn four cards.
• In baccarat, the casino takes a commission whenever a player wins a bet placed on the banker side. This is because betting on the banker has an inherent 1.06 percent advantage. Bets are paid at 0.95-to-1.
• Twos through nines are counted at face value; tens and all jacks, queens and kings count as zero; and aces count as one. Suit is irrelevant in baccarat.
• First and third cards are dealt to the player. Second and fourth cards are dealt to the banker.
• For any total over nine, only the last digit is taken - for example, a total composed of a six of clubs and a six of diamonds is two. If either the player or the banker has a total of eight or nine, it's called a "natural" and automatically wins - unless the other hand also has a natural, in which case the two hands tie.
• If the player holds a total of less than six or seven, the player draws.
• With a total from zero to two the bank always draws; with a total of seven the bank always stands; with a total of three the bank draws, unless the player drew and its third card was an eight; with a total of four the bank draws, unless the player drew and its third card was an eight, nine or ace; with a five the bank draws, unless the player drew a third card outside the range of four through seven; with a six the bank stands, unless the player drew a third card of either a six or a seven.
• Hone your skills and practice what you've learned, for free or real money, at an Online Casino.
• Gambling can be addictive. If you think you have a gambling problem, get help immediately.
• When choosing an online casino, stick to the reputable casinos that have been in business for several years such as Casino-on-net / 888 or Golden Palace.