There’s an air of mystery surrounding baccarat, an elegant game that seems to require the deep pockets of only the wealthiest casino patrons. Yet for players who understand the rules, baccarat is a simple and highly rewarding game that boasts one of the lowest house edges in all the casino’s table games (1-1.5%). Baccarat is also the easiest of all casino card games to learn.
Jimmy, a seasoned veteran of Las Vegas casinos, watches two Chinese men at a baccarat table, chattering with each other, coiled and twisted around wads of money that swim from one end of the table to the other. He shakes his head, astonished that the men would squander thousands of dollars on such a hunch. The answer, he says, is that baccarat is not only a game of chance but also a game of superstition and fate.
The object of baccarat is to place a bet on which hand will come closest to nine points, the most desirable outcome. Players do not get their own cards, but instead bet on either the Player’s or Banker’s hand. During the course of a round, two cards are dealt to each hand and the winner is determined by the sum of the values of the two cards. Picture cards and tens are worth zero points, while all other cards are valued at their face value. When a hand’s total hits a double digit, the second digit becomes its value.
Aside from the fact that there are only three possible outcomes in a game of baccarat — Player win, Banker win, or Tie — there is not much else to know about the game. A typical baccarat table offers from seven to 14 spots for bettors, including the two main wagering areas for Player and Banker, as well as a spot to place a bet on a Tie.
Once the bets are placed, the dealer will deal two cards to each of the Player and Banker hands. If the first hand totals 8 or 9, a natural win is declared and all bets are paid. If the first two hands have different totals, a third card will be drawn.
Many Asian gamblers consider certain numbers lucky and unlucky. For example, the number 4 is considered unlucky in Cantonese because it sounds similar to the word for death. To avoid this problem, a wise casino executive may remove the number 4 from the baccarat table layout.
The most popular strategy for baccarat is the Martingale, which involves doubling your bet after each loss in the hopes that a future win will recoup all previous losses and yield a profit equal to your original bet. This strategy works best when you have a large enough bankroll and the discipline to stick with it. But if you don’t, it’s easy to burn through your casino funds. To protect yourself, decide ahead of time how much you want to spend on a night at the tables and only bring cash.