Baccarat, also known as Punto Banco, is a game usually set apart from the rest of the games in a casino. Played in its own area, the gaming table is the same size as a craps table manned by three casino dealers and played by up to 12 or 14 players, depending on the game.

In the game of Baccarat, there are two main bets to throw down: player or banker, which translates to Punto or Banco. In addition, there is the Standoff bet which is used sparingly. Casinos vary their rules in regards to dealing cards. Sometimes, players are given permission to deal cards while others rely on casino dealers to do it. Nevertheless, online Baccarat cards are always dealt by the CPU.

Every player (including the dealer) is responsible for betting Banker or Player. The nature of Baccarat allows for the dealer to bet on Banker most of the time. Gamers can make the choice not to deal, passing the shoe along to the next player. As long as the Bank wins, the shoe stays with the player. The shoe moves on to the next gamer if the Player wins.

In the Baccarat table, two hands are dealt and it is up to the player to choose which hand will come out on top. In addition, players can try to guess whether they will tie as well. It plays similar to Roulette, where players bet on Black or Red. The payoff for each win is even on a 1:1 ration (with the exception of the Standoff bet which pays 8 or 9 times your original bet.) Keep in mind that any win on Banco will cost players a 5% commission by the casino. This is the only difference between the Banco and Punto bets.

Taxing the Banco comes with good reason. For starters, it has been calculated that an 8 deck cards play will have Banco winning up to four hands more than the Punto.

Each player’s hand is made up of a low of 2 cards and a high of 3 cards. Dealers perform their trade by putting two face-down cards on the table right under the shoe. The player with the largest Punto bet receives the other two face-down cards. The Punto player is responsible for glancing over at his cards and giving them back to the dealing player. The dealer, in turn, will turn over both hands’ cards while the casino dealer shouts out the games winner and results in the meantime.

If 9 or 9 (highest) is the value of either hand, it is referred to as “Natural” and no more cards are dished out. A non-natural hand will force the casino dealer to instruct the card dealer to give out a third card based on each hand’s value. Dealing a third card requires a set of special rules that are followed by all casinos, both online and land-based ones.

When dealing finishes, the hand with the highest value is the champion. Casino dealers follow the protocol of taking away losing bets first followed by paying out the winning ones. Card dealers are not supposed to provide any payouts to anyone. All players at the Baccarat table are responsible for trying to beat the casino.


BACCARAT RULES

The game of Baccarat uses a six deck or eight deck shoe. No value is assigned to any face card plus 10s. Face cards include the Jack, Queen, and King. Face value is assigned to any cards less than 10, while Aces are worth 1. In Baccarat, suits are not accounted for. Values of 9 or less are counted, so only single digit values mean something in the game. Any double digit count that appears has its left digit dropped to turn it into a single digit. That means a 14 would count as a 4 and a 24 would also count as a 4.

To begin the game of Baccarat, players have to decide over whether to choose Banco, Punto, or the rarely used Standoff. From there, the card dealer dishes out two cards each to the player first, followed by the banker. The goal of Baccarat is to win the hand that you believe will earn the highest value. A third card can be given to the Punto, the Banco, or both depending on the third-card rules listed below. Baccarat players are not required to know these rules. Since they are mandatory decisions, it is automatically effective. From time to time, a mistake can be made, however.

Rule-Set for Player’s Third-Card

- When Punto or Banco’s two cards have a total value of 8 or 9, extra cards cannot be drawn. The hand that results is called a natural and the game finishes.
- If any player has a hand value of 5 or less, he/she is required to take out a third card
- If players do not take out a third card, the bank’s hand deals out a 6 or more and takes a third card with a value of 5 or less. If the player takes out a third card, then the list of Bank third-card rules below will make the decision over whether the bank takes a third card or not.

Rule-Set for Bank’s Third-Card

- Bank total 2 or less = Bank takes out a card. The player’s third card is not taken into consideration.
- Banks total – 3 = Bank takes out a third card, with the exception of a players third card being an 8
- Banks total – 4 = Bank takes out a third card, with the exception being if the players third card was a 0,1,8 or 9
- Banks total is 5 = Bank takes out a third card if the players card was 4,5,6,7
- Banks total is 6 = bank is required to take out a third card if the players third card does not have a value of 6 or 7
- A Bank total of 7 will force the Bank to stand

According to both rule-sets, the house advantage for Banco is 1.17% and the house advantage for a player is 1.36%. The house advantage on a standoff (also known as a tie) is 14.12%, paying 8 times the amount of the original bet made (8:1)