How To Play Baccarat
For anyone who is well schooled in the basics of Baccarat, the game tends to be pretty decipherable and it turns to be a friendly game to play. The North American version of Baccarat is known as Punto Banco. Luck and probability plays a major role in this game.
About 12 players can play in the Baccarat game; however, only 2 players are dealt with cards. One of them is the player “Punto” and the other is the Banker “Banco”. The rest of the players in the table will be betting on who will win the game.
Aim:
The player and the banker are dealt with a two or three card hand. Eventually on adding up the value of the cards, the player who has the value of 9 (natural win) or the number closest to 9 will be the winner. The rest of the players will bet on who will win the game. The betting options available to the other players are:
- The Banker Wins
- The Player Wins
- The Tie Wins
Card Values:
- Ace has a value of 1
- Numbers 2 to 9 are taken for their face value.
- 10, J, Q, K are valued 10; however, the points are assumed based on the number in the ones position of the number, in case of number 10, it is zero. The value of 10, J, Q, and K is taken to be zero.
Baccarat Game Proceeds:
The players place their bets on who will win.
Banker and the Player draw two cards each.
If either the player or the banker has a total of 9 or 8 then both of them stand. And the one with the highest total wins the game. If not both of them go for the third card draw.
Third Card Draw For Player:
- If the player has a total of 6 or 7 with first 2 cards, they stand and no more draw is permitted.
- If the player has a total of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 with first 2 cards they make a third card draw.
Third Card Draw For Dealer:
- If bank has total of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 a third card draw is allowed.
- If bank has total of 6, then they are permitted to draw, provided the player has a 6 or 7 total with 3 cards.
- If bank has total of 6, and the player has a total of 6 or 7 with 2 cards, then the bank cannot draw and the bank stands.
The third draw for the bank with 6 is dependent on what the player holds.
After completion of the draws, hands are assessed and payouts are made for the players based on the bets made.