Play Baccarat

Today's Game
Both European baccarat and chemin de fer have been offered in the United States from time to time, but the game played today combines the best features of each. All players can bet on either the banker or player hand, and although the shoe rotates among the players, who take turns playing the banker hand, all wagers are covered by the casino, and the bank, subject only to a maximum-bet size, is relatively unlimited. This version of the game, originating in South America and played in England and other parts of the world under the name of punto banco, was introduced into the United States in the late I950's by Tommy Renzoni after the Gastro government closed all the casinos in Cuba.

PLAYERS
Aimed primarily at high rollers, baccarat is a glamorous game with an old-world air of graciousness, and the patrons are usually the well-dressed, wealthy, older gamblers. You play baccarat with special chips and higher stakes in a small, luxuriously appointed, roped-off area and is dealt by tuxedoed croupiers in an atmosphere that is subdued and exclusive. Lady Luck is the predominant factor; whether you win or lose a bundle often depends on the turn of a single card, and the play is dictated by chance, not by choice.

In most casinos, minimum bets are either $5 or $20, although at certain times the minimum can be as high as $100. Maximum bets range from $1,000 to $2,000, but as usual, the larger casinos frequently raise the limit for well-heeled high rollers. Due to the common $20 minimum bet, baccarat tables furnish yellow $20 chips, which can be found nowhere else in the casino. $500 chips are available for larger wagers. Because of the relatively high level of betting, baccarat is not a very popular game, and most casinos offer just a few tables.

If you are not concerned about the elevated level of betting, don't be frightened by the fast pace of the game—about two hands a minute. Baccarat is the easiest of all the casino table games to learn, and no skill is required. Actually, you don't need to know the rules to play baccarat, even if you are given the shoe to deal. The croupiers will show you where to bet; when, where, and how to deal; and they will announce the winning hand. Everything is automatic.

As the cards are dealt, neither the banker, nor the croupiers, nor the players have any choice about standing or drawing cards. The fixed rules of the game always dictate the play. There are no options, and no decisions to make other than the size of your wager and whether you choose to bet on the banker or the player hand. The game could not be made any simpler when you play baccarat.

CASINO CREW
Standing at the center of the layout are two croupiers, each responsible for selling chips and collecting the losing and paying off the winning wagers of their half of the table. Printed on the layout, directly in front of them, are fourteen small boxes numbered to correspond with the player betting spots, and used to keep track of any commissions owed by the players.

Opposite these dealers sits another croupier, the caller, who directs the game, telling the player with the shoe when to deal and to whom, and subsequently announcing the winning hand. The caller also removes the first card in the shoe after the shuffle and turns it faceup. The point value of this card, with face cards counting as ten for this purpose, determines how many cards are to be burned, and the caller then places them in the discard slot in the table, just in front of him. Cards from completed hands are also collected by the caller and deposited in this slot. This continues until the cut card appears in front of the shoe, signaling a new shuffle after the completion of that hand.

If baccarat is the game for you, you have game to the right place. Feel free to use this page, and indeed the rest of the site to make sure you get that best advice available. Just like playing other games such as roulette or poker, the more advice you have on baccarat, the better you will do. Don’t be left behind.