Baccarat and Beyond
Baccarat is a classic card game played at the Casinos.
However, Baccarat is of European origin. Here, we describe the variant played on the North American continent.
The players sit on chairs, behind the areas of the table marked by one of the numbers one to 12. The game is conducted by three Casino employees, who are positioned around the table.
Eight decks of cards, placed in a shoe (dealing box) are generally used. Two hands are dealt from the shoe, not by the dealers, but by one of the players.
One of these hands is called the Player's hand, the other the Banker's hand. The players may wager on either of these two hands, or even on both if they wish.
Bets are placed generally with currency, or sometimes, with large denomination chips. The players keep their currency and chips in front of them, in the areas marked by the numbers one to 12.
The player who has the shoe is called the 'Banker.' Being the Banker presents neither advantage nor disadvantage for the player.
In plush Casinos, the minimum bet limit is five dollars or more often, $20. The maximum bet limit is $2,000. More recently, smaller Casinos have also introduced Baccarat. Lower bet limits are offered in these places.
The hands dealt in the game of Baccarat contain at least two and at most three cards. To describe the game, it is necessary to explain what we mean by the value of such a hand.
The values of Baccarat hands and Blackjack hands are defined differently. The tens and face cards (Jacks, Queens, and Kings) are counted 10, and the Aces counted are counted as one.
All the other cards are counted as their face values indicate. To obtain the value of a given hand we proceed as follows:
First, we add the numbers corresponding to the cards in the hand. Should the total be a number of single-digit, the sum would be the value.
Now, if the total resulted from a two-digit number, its hand value of would be the second digit.
For example, if the sum is the two-digit number 29, then the value of the hand is nine. If the sum is 17, the value of the hand is seven.
If the sum is 10, the value of the hand is zero. Notice that the lowest value a Baccarat hand may have is zero. The highest value a hand may have is nine. A hand consisting of two cards and having a value of eight or nine is called a natural.