A Short History of Baccarat
Baccarat is one of those casino card games which originated in Italy around the mid-15th century. It was originally called Baccara, but it quickly gravitated to France where the "t" was added, and it immediately became a favorite with the French nobility. Probably because of its attraction for the French aristocracy, Baccarat is today considered to be a game of the "elite" or high-roller casino gamblers.
In land based casinos, Baccarat is usually played in a separate room or in a roped off section of the casino, and the players are given special VIP treatment. In land based casinos the minimum bets are very high, and, even though the house edge in Baccarat is relatively low as card games go, the casinos make a large profit on this game.
Online Baccarat
Of course with online Baccarat we are no longer talking about high rollers and "elite" players. Anyone can play online Baccarat, and you don't need to be wearing a tux to do so. Minimum bets in online Baccarat can be as low as $10 which is nothing compared to the minimum in the land casino game.
How to Play Baccarat
Similar to blackjack, but much simpler and faster, the aim of the game of Baccarat is to make a hand of two or three cards with a points value of nine, or as close to nine as possible without exceeding that number.
In counting card points, all the face cards count as "0", Ace is one, and all other cards count at their face value. However, when you add up points, and the total is a two digit number, the first digit is dropped. For example, a 7 and a 4 have a value of 1, not 11. Participants are only allowed a maximum of three cards.
To begin the game of Baccarat, two hands are dealt. These are called the "player" and "banker" hands. However, all participants in the game are allowed to bet on either of these hands. There are three types of bets: player, banker and tie. Each bet type has a different house edge, and, since the house edge on the banker hand is the lowest, it is usually best to place your bet on the banker hand. The "tie" bet has the highest house edge, so generally players do not bet on a tie.
Each of the two hands - player and banker - is dealt two cards. If the points count with these two cards is less than eight or nine, you may "stand" or draw another card. You must stand with a count of six or seven, and you must draw with a count of four or less. If the first two cards total eight or nine, no more cards are drawn because this is called a Baccarat "natural" winning hand. Obviously, the hand closest to the count of nine wins.
Mini-Baccarat
One of the nicest online casino card games is Mini-Baccarat. The difference is in the number of decks used in the game. Standard Baccarat uses six to eight decks of cards all shuffled together. Mini-Baccarat uses only one deck of 52 cards. It is essentially the same game but the pace is faster and your chances of getting a winning hand are better. Also, the betting minimums and maximums are generally lower so that this is one of the card games catering to a smaller wallet.
How to Win at Baccarat
There is no strategy to playing Baccarat. This game differs from blackjack in that respect. Baccarat is totally a game of chance - a matter of betting on the hand which you believe will have a total closest to nine.
Many Baccarat players claim that the game is simple to learn, but when reading about it or watching it for the first time, it looks and sounds confusing. The best thing to do is to find an online casino that will allow you free practice games. Try it out, learn the rules and then go on to play Baccarat for real money. It is one of those card games which is very entertaining.
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