Baccarat

Baccarat is a popular card game played at many online casinos. Actually there are three main types of this game; punto-banco, baccarat banque and baccarat chemin de fer. The first type is strictly a game of chance while the others do need some skills as the players are allowed to make choices. Baccarat is a very fast game and one round will usually not take longer then a minute if not shorter. It was already very popular in Asia and China and it is becoming more and more popular in Europe and America nowadays.

How to play Baccarat

The game is played between the dealer and the player. In a land based casino or with live baccarat there can be up to 7 players at a baccarat table.
The number of cards decks that is being used varies from 3 to 8 decks. The main aim of the game is to get as close as possible to the 9 points with the cards on your hands. The cards 2-9 are worth their own value, the 10,J,Q,K are worth zero points and the Ace counts as one point. The score of a hand is the total of all your cards added together. But in the case the total is above 10 you will need to deduct 10 points. For example you have a 5 and a 9 in your hand which means the total of your hand is 14 points. Now you need to deduct 10 which leaves you with a hand of 4 points. This is done because the best possible score is 9 and thus never more then 9.
At Baccarat you can place three bets; on the dealer (also called banco), on the player (also called punto) or on a tie.
First of all the bets are being placed and after that the cards will be dealt by the dealer. You and the dealer will get 2 cards each, dealt face down. If neither you nor the dealer has 8 or 9 points the game continues and you will both receive a second card. The one closest to the 9 points will win.

Types of baccarat

In general there are three types of Baccarat. In online casinos these types of baccarat will usually be mixed up. We will discuss them here briefly so that you at least heard of them and know the terms.

Punto Banco

Punto Banco is actually the most simple type of baccarat. You can bet on either the banco(bank/dealer) or on the punto (player). If either you or the dealer will have 8 or 9 points it is called a natural. The one with a natural will win the game. If neither has a natural the game will continue. If you have a total of 0-5 points with your first two cards you can draw a third card but if you have a total of 6 or 7 you can stand (not take another card). The dealer can also draw another card according to the rules of the player. Next to that there are some more complex rules for the dealer to draw a card. For example when the player drew a 2 or 3 the dealer will draw if he has a total of 0-4 but he will stand if he has a total of 5-7. It will take to far to discuss all these rules here as they are only applicable to the dealer and of no influence on the player.
The game is won by the one who is closest to 9 points.

Baccarat banque

This type of baccarat is usually played with 3 decks of cards. Each player can be the bank in this variant of Baccarat. The bank will start at the player who has first set down his or her name on the list of players. There are some difficult rules with this type of baccarat which we will not discuss here as it is only confusing. These rules are only applicable to baccarat games in some land based casinos. Online casinos use the same rules as the punto banco. If the online casinos does have some additional rules you will always find them at the website of the online casino.

Baccarat chemin de fer

This type of baccarat is actually the first type of baccarat ever when it was introduced in France. The name is French for way of iron and is probably due to the fact that the cards were placed in an iron box.
In this version the dealer is not the only one who can be the banker. As long as the bank wins it will stay the bank but when it loses the turn of the bank will be passed on to the next player counter clockwise
Baccarat Chemin de Fer is being played with 6 decks of cards all shuffled together. In an online casino the rest of the rules are almost the same as Punto Banco.