Baccarat anyone?
May 4th, 2005 by brother9I’m fascinated by Baccarat. It’s one of the few true gambling games out there in a casino anymore - what with all of the crazy side bets that have been introduced into various games, such as Queens Blackjack, or the worst offender of them all, Spanish 21.
Baccarat offers the ultimate in the smooth suave sophistication of gambling. (The story goes, incidentally, that Frank Sinatra introduced Baccarat to Vegas after he saw it in Monte Carlo and thought it was very elegant) Heck, James Bond throws down at the baccarat table. You see him in the poker room? At the slots? Hell no.
So - how do you play?
In Nevada, Baccarat typically is played the classic way. Eight to twelve seats at a table, eight decks are shuffled, and a cut card is employed. You may either bet on the player, or the banker (or push, at odds). Usually who the “player” is moves counter-clockwise between deals, the dealer plays the “house.” Each is dealt two cards, and they are added and the tens digit ignored. If you get a 6-9, for instance, your total is 5. If you get a 4-8, it’s 2. Face cards are obviously zero, Aces 1. After the first two cards you may choose to take a third, or not. But you can only get at most one more card. The person closest to 9 wins. If either hand is 8 or 9 after the first two cards, bets are settled immediately, and there is no option for an additional card. There are rules for taking cards, but they’re mostly for the house, and not really important in understanding the basics of betting the game.
Typically, if you bet on the Bank and you win, the house takes a cut. Usually 10%.
Ken Uston did manage to work out a method of baccarat, but it requires counting cards through 7 decks of play. So you can imagine that this is not the best way to make a living. But it is surely the best way to look cool.
