Each table game that you will find in land or online casinos have a particular image, and the image that Baccarat gives of is one of sophistication and class That is no real wonder because this thinking player’s game first earned it claim to fame in the exclusive land casinos on the French and Italian Riviera beginning five hundred years ago. Despite all the other games that have come and gone since then, Baccarat still remains the number one table game in Europe.
There are actually three offshoots of Baccarat, which are all different, but so similar to each other that it would be possible to become confused between them. These variations are:
• Punto banco (sometimes called North American baccarat)
• Chemin de fer
• Banque
Despite the sophisticated label that is attached to the game, Baccarat is a game where the player can play no part in determining its outcome. The Banque and Chemin de fer variations do allow players a clearly determined role in influencing the outcome of each hand, whereas the original version of the game just needs lady (or should that be mademoiselle) luck to be on their side.
There are many casino players, and especially those hail from the other side of the “big pond” that say that Baccarat is as a rich man’s version of Blackjack, and there are similarities. The only difference that there is a possibility of the payers and the bank tying. . If a tie does happen, the bank returns the player’s stake, although tradition says that the player should allow their bet to roll up on to the next hand. In the casinos of Monte Carlo and Monaco, it is considered good manners to double the bet on a tied hand.
In Baccarat, the players and the bank are each dealt two cards face down, with the highest possible score being a nine (the permutations being 1+8, 2+7, 3+6, 5+4 or ten or face card(zero) plus a 9). Once the first two cards have been dealt, they are turned face up.
Both the player and the bank have the choice of standing or drawing, and the rules state that a player must draw if their first two cards amount to less than seven. The bank always needs to draw on less than two (face and ace) and needs to stand on a total of seven. The bank is not allowed to stand on any hand. If the player has zero and draws another ten or face card then the hand remains at zero; if they draw a seven then his hand is seven. The player with the highest hand always wins.
Baccarat has become a pretty popular online game, because it is simple to play and very fast moving. The comparison to blackjack has become even stronger, and there is even talk that it will soon be included in the tournament rosters of many online casinos in the near future.
