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Gambling Easy with Baccarat and Mini Baccarat
If you are the type of person who enjoys gambling but does not want to get bogged down with complex rules and strategies, check out baccarat. Pronounced "bah-kah-rah" it is a card game in which the only thing you have to do is bet on which hand is going to win. It has a low house advantage - only about 1%.
Baccarat is popular among high rollers and in fact, there are special restricted areas in the casinos just them. But ordinary players can play the game too. However if you are the type of gambler who likes a challenge, baccarat can easily bore you. Baccarat for high rollers is played slowly since players can take their turns dealing the cards. Mini Baccarat plays faster with one dealer supervising the game.
Like slots, the game of baccarat only requires you to make a bet. Once you have placed your bet, you just have to wait and see if your bet is going to win or not. You make no other decisions at all unlike in blackjack.
Two hands compete in baccarat, nominally called "Player" and "Banker." These are just names and have nothing to do with the actual players and the dealer. Two cards are dealt to each side, and perhaps a third depending on the situation. The hand that gets a score of 9 or as close as possible to that number wins.
In baccarat, cards from ace to ten take on their face value. Court cards have no point value. Only single digits are counted and if the hand total is double-digit, the second is dropped. So for example, if a hand is 8-4, the total of 12 is counted as 2. It is impossible to bust in baccarat.
A hand of 9 automatically wins without further draws, unless the other hand is also a 9. Then there is a tie. A hand of 8 immediately wins as well, unless the other hand is also an 8 (tie) or a 9 (loss). Other hand totals require the drawing of more cards depending on complex baccarat rules. Note that no one ever chooses whether to draw more cards or not. It is all determined by fixed rules.
The Player hand will draw a third card if its hand total is 0-5. If its hand total is 6-9, it will stand.
The Banker hand has a far more complicated set of moves. These are all calculated to give the house an advantage in the game.
Below is a table of baccarat rules for drawing cards:
Player's total Player Dealer 0-5 Draw 1 card See 2nd table 6-7 Stand Draw if B has 0-5 Stand if B has 6+ 8-9 (Natural) Stand See 2nd table
Banker's total Draws if Player's third card is 1-2 Any card 3 1-10 4 2-7 5 4-6 6 6-7 7 Stands 8-9 Stands
Banker's total Stands if Player's third card is 1-2 Always draws 3 8 4 1, 8-10 5 1-3, 8-10 6 1-5, 8-10 7 Stands 8-9 Stands
The casino takes a 5% rake off winning hands when you wager on the Banker hand. But despite this, the odds for betting on the Banker are still better than betting on the player. Occasionally, if you're feeling lucky (or psychic), you can bet on a tie, which has a house edge of 14% but pays out big if you win.