In casinos across the world you can find baccarat tables. Often this game has been called a rich mans game but the nothing could be further from the truth and any player sitting at the table has a chance of winning as it is purely a guessing game. With no skill required, it is one of the easiest games and has the smallest casino payback.
The standard game allows you to place bets on the player hand, the dealer hand or a tie. The object of the game is to make a score of 9, or get as close to it as possible. All 10’s and picture cards are placed at a value of 0. All other cards are valued at the number of the card making an ace the value of 1. Should the score total be higher than 10, then 10 gets subtracted from the total to get a single digit score.
Two cards are dealt for both the player – which is valid for all players at the table- and the dealer. Closest to 9 wins the game. There is of course the option to draw a third card but this is determined by preset rules, usually handed to each player as they sit at the table to play. For a player hand to draw a third card the score must be 5 and less. For the dealer it must be 2 or less to give an automatic draw of the third card. If the dealer totals 3 – 6 the third card draw is determined by the score of the third card drawn by the player hand.
In Cuba We Play Punto Bunco
In the 1950s when the game of baccarat went to the United States of America it first rejected. No one wanted to play the game as it seemed completely nonsensical. From there it went to Cuba where it was called Punto Bunco. Punto was the word used for the players and bunco the word for the banker or dealer.
The biggest difference in the game is that it is so much bigger. The average baccarat table seats 8 people but in punto bunco, the table seats 14 people. 6 to 8 decks of cards are used and sometimes a full table can have more than one croupier. Another difference between the game as we know it and this version, is that no set of rules determines if a third card is drawn or not. A third card is automatically drawn and the winner is then announced by the croupier at the end of each round.
Baccarat Banque
This version is largely played in Europe. There is not much difference to the European way of playing and the American way of playing. But of course there has to be at least one. Why else would baccarat bangue exist, if it was the same as normal baccarat? In version of the game the player hand is not played by the croupier but one of the players at the table until such time that, that player leaves and a new player is selected to play that hand.
As you can see the rules of the game are just about the same wherever you go, with only differences, making it one of the easiest games, not just in a specific part of the world, but indeed in the entire world.