The Basics of Baccarat
Baccarat is the high-stakes card game that James Bond plays in his movies. It’s also a popular table in many Asian casinos. Its elegant European origins and tuxedo-clad dealers lend it an aura of sophistication, but its low house edge means that the average player can win money at it if they play smart.
The objective of a hand is to get as close to nine points as possible, with the winning hand being either the player’s or banker’s. Each hand is dealt two cards, and the value of each total is determined by adding the digits from the values of all the pips (the dots on a card that represent clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades): The first digit is dropped, so for instance, dealing a 3 and a 4 results in a score of 8. The hand that comes closest to nine wins.
A third card is drawn if either the Player’s or Banker’s total is below 8, and it is also drawn if the first two hands total 9 or higher. If the first two hands have a same total, it is a tie and the placed bets are paid out.
After the third card is drawn, the croupier will announce the winner of the round. The ties are paid out in the same way as the winning Player’s and Banker’s hands, although some players choose to use the Martingale strategy — doubling their bet after every loss and hoping that one win will recoup all previous losses – to try and maximize their profits.
The simplest strategy is to bet on the Player or Banker’s hand, as the odds are much more favorable. This is known as betting on the outside, and it is recommended that you start off with a bet that is small enough that you can afford to lose it. Then as your experience grows, you can gradually increase the size of your bets, but always remain within a safe margin of error.
It’s a good idea to keep track of your wins and losses during each hand, which can help you make better decisions on the next hand. Some casinos offer this information to their players, but others do not. In the latter case, it’s a good idea to keep track yourself so that you can see past player and banker victories and adjust your bet accordingly.
Baccarat has long been regarded as a glamorous, elite casino game, with its tuxedoed dealers and double tables. But in the past decade, the game has made its way onto the regular casino floor, with lower minimum bets and a more streamlined layout. Some casinos now use a single table and a shuffling machine instead of two. Regardless of where you play, there’s a lot to learn about this intriguing game. The game’s history runs deep, and its roots may be traced back to pai gow, an ancient Chinese tile game. Some historians suggest that pai gow spun off from baccarat, which may have arrived in Italy more than 700 years ago via Marco Polo’s travels in Asia.
