How to Play Baccarat Rules

Baccarat is a great card game played in traditional and online casino destinations alike. There are three common variants of how to play Baccarat: baccarat chemin de fer (railway), baccarat banque (or à deux tableaux), as well as punto banco (or North American baccarat). It is a game that gained vast popularity not just among gamblers, but in popular culture as well. For instance, Baccarat Chemin de Fer was the favorite game of James Bond, Ian Fleming's 007 secret agent. Bond can be spotted playing Baccarat in numerous novels, most notably in Casino Royale (1953).

Baccarat History:

The word 'baccarat' means zero both in Italian and in French. It is largely believed that the game was first invented by an Italian gambler Felix Falguierein somewhere in the middle ages and later introduced to French aristocrats during the reign of Charles VIII of France (1483-1498). Traveling through countries as well as continents for many centuries ever since its inception the game of Baccarat eventually acquired different rule variations. In the late 1950's, a man by the name Tommy Renzoni brought the game to the United States. As we have already mentioned above, the American version of Baccarat is referred to as Punto Banco.

How to play Baccarat:

Here, we will discuss Punto Banco. In Baccarat, cards 2 through 9 are worth face value, 10's and face cards are worth zero, with Aces being worth 1 point. Players calculate their totals by taking the sum of their cards divided by 10. Simply put, when a player's total value of cards equals or exceeds 10, he must drop the left digit. The highest score a player may ever achieve is 9.

Players seeking to learn how to play Baccarat should pay close attention to our explanation of the game's course. Each hand features 2-3 cards. There are three bets players make in Baccarat: 'banker' (Banco), 'player' (Punto) and 'tie.' Each active player, including the dealer, receives two hands and must either bet on which of them he believes is likely to win or state that thinks they might tie. The cards are dealt face down, one to the 'Player' bettor and the other to the 'Banker' bettor (who's probably the dealer) and so on. After receiving two cards each, both the player and the dealer expose their hands. The dealer calls the total.

From this position, the table of play is used to establish whether or not further cards must to be drawn. If either the 'Player' hand or the 'Banker' hand feature an 8 or 9, no additional cards are drawn. The player with the highest total hand wins. If neither player holds an 8 or a 9, the game proceeds as follows:

If the 'Player' bettor happens to hold a total of 0-5, he must draw one card. If the has a total of 6 or 7, he stands. The 'Banker' bettor's next move depends on his hand, on whether or not the Player bettor drew a card, and on what card the Player bettor drew.
If the 'Player' bettor didn't draw a card, the 'Banker' bettor draws if he has 0-5, and stands if he holds 6-7.
If the 'Player' bettor drew a 2 or 3, the 'Banker' bettor draws if he has 0-4, and stands if he holds 5-7.
If the 'Player' bettor drew a 4 or 5, the 'Banker' bettor draws if he has 0-5, and stands if he holds 6-7.
If the 'Player' bettor drew a 6 or 7, the 'Banker' bettor draws if he has 0-6, and stands if he holds 7.
If the 'Player' bettor drew an 8, the 'Banker' bettor draws if he has 0-2, and stands if he holds 3-7.
If the 'Player' bettor drew an ace, 9, 10, or face-card, the 'Banker' bettor draws if he has 0-3, and stands if he holds 4-7.

The rules depicted above are the basics designed to help players interested in learning how to play Baccarat. With this game variant depending strictly on luck, there is no special skill required to become a winning player!

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