For six hundred years a card game has seen the rise and fall of card gamblers the world over. From James Bond to Mission Impossible and from Dr No to A Hard Day’s night it has enthralled many generations of avid card players across the globe.
The rise and rise of the online gambling sites has finally reached the game and thrust it out into the world online arena. These online versions have been growing in popularity for a while now and although this game seems to be a simple game, one would be advised to study the rules and the strategy before betting any money on your game skill. It is deceptively easy and like many easy looking games it has subtle levels of play that need to be studied before starting. Whilst the meteoric rise of poker has seen many hundreds of guides and pdfs, spring up all over the internet it can be much more difficult to find a decent guide to Baccarat. What follows is a brief but comprehensive overview of the rules and a little insight into the basic strategy of the game.
Although there maybe various versions of the basic game the one that most of us will come across is called ‘Punto Banco’. This common version, sometimes called North American Baccarat, is quite simple to learn and take part in. But as with many of the world’s favourite games, it is a case of moments to learn and a lifetime to master. The real world version of this game draws large stakes and very high rolling players. Indeed, sometimes the stakes are so high that the game is played in guarded rooms away from the hoi polloi. If you are going to play baccarat online then you won’t have that problem.
The simplest form of Baccarat strategy is that cards are dealt, the value side of the card is down, and two cards are dealt to all players and the banker. The value of these cards is added together. At this point depending on the combined value of the cards, players or the banker might draw another card or not.
Before we delve further into the rules of the game we need to understand how the cards are scored in this unique game. Values of two to nine are worth the number on the card and an ace is equal to one point. Royal cards (jack, queen and king) have no value. After adding the cards you have been dealt together the number of ‘tens’ that you have is ignored, this means that twelve is actually a two and nineteen is really nine, okay stay with me!
The result of this section of rules is that the highest score you can achieve when you play baccarat online is nine. Zero is the lowest and gives rise to the name Baccarat.
To provide a bit of clearer understanding these example hands might help. So two cards dealt with the values of three and six give a hand of nine, this is a very good hand. Two cards of values five and six give a score of eleven but as we know we ignore the first digit which leaves score of one, which is quite low. If you were to receive a ten and nine then you would actually have a total value of nine. A deal of five and five would give a score of zero and this is ‘Baccarat’.
Winning is achieved by being the player or banker with the highest score after everyone has been dealt and had a chance to draw an extra card. So what determines whether you can have an extra card or not?
If anyone, including the banker, is dealt a total of eight or nine nobody draws any cards. These are called natural hands. The player can take another card if his or her total is between zero and five. Once the player has decided not to take another card, the banker decides whether to take another card using the same rules.
If a player does draw however, a number of things can happen depending on the third card:
So what happens if the player does take another card? This is where there are several options depending on the numbers involved. So follow me, and take it slow:
If the player took an ace, royal card, ten or nine the banker takes a card only if he has a score from zero to three, he does not take a card if he has from four to seven.
If the player took an eight the banker takes a card only if he has a score of zero, one or two, he does not take a card if he has from three to seven.
If the player took a six or seven, the banker takes a card only if he has a score of zero to six, he does not take a card if he has a total of seven.
If the player took a four or five, the banker takes a card only if he has a score of zero to five, he does not take a card if he has a total of six or seven.
If the player took a two or three, the banker takes a card only if he has a score of zero to four; he does not take a card if he has a total of between five and seven.
Now you have discovered how to play Baccarat online, take heed of these rules and you will be able to work out what the banker is likely to do on his turn. Once he or she has completed their draw then the winner will be decided. This is the bare bones of the game; you are now equipped with the basic baccarat strategy and can go out in the virtual world and join any Baccarat game. Be considered in your approach, never play or bet beyond your means and happy playing.
