Baccarat

Baccarat is a game of chance and luck. It was first played in Europe during the 15th century and has gone on to feature in many modern day Hollywood films, such as James Bond and Rush Hour 3. The name baccarat is actually the term for the worst hand or a hand that has a value of 0. There are three different versions of baccarat; baccarat chemin de fer, baccarat banque and punto banco or American Baccarat. American baccarat is the easiest variant of the game to understand and the most commonly played version in online casinos.

The Deal

At the beginning of the game two hands are dealt ‘the player’ and ‘the banker’. All players may bet on these two hands. Two cards are dealt faced down, first to the player and then to the banker. If the player’s cards have a value between 0-5 and the banker has a value between 0-7 on their cards, then the player can be dealt a third card. If the player’s cards have a value greater than 5 then cannot receive an additional card. The banker can receive a third card if they have a value of 0, 1 or 2.

Card Values

All face cards such as the Queen, King and Jack have a value of 0. The 10 card also has a value of 0. Aces have a value of 1 and all other numbered cards have a value according to their number.

Calculating your Hand

If you have a face card and a numbered card, your hand value will be calculated using the numbered card. For instance, if you have Q and 7 then the value of your hand is 7. However, if you have two 0 value cards, such as K and 10, then you have baccarat, the worst possible hand because it has a total value of 0.

How to Win

The winning hand is the one closest to a total value of 9. It is impossible to go over this number because if you have two cards like 6 and 4, when they are added together it equals 10 which means that your hand value is 0. So a win will be determined by who is closest to a value of 9 between the player and the banker. It is also possible to achieve a tie, and this occurs if both the player and the banker have the same value on their cards.