Baccarat is a card game that can
trace its roots back to 15th century
Italy where it traveled to France
and became a game of the court of
King Charles VIII. There are
numerous variants of this card game,
just as there a numerous variants of
poker, and the most commonly played
versions are baccarat banque, punto
baccarat, and baccarat chemin de fer.
The last version gained some current
popularity as the game of choice for
Ian Fleming's secret agent, James
Bond.
The game is played primarily with
the dealer and the player going head
to head. While there can be multiple
players at the table, it is usually
played one on one with the other
players casting side bets. The
chemin de fer and baccarat banque
versions offer the players more
choices in their wagers and choices
and unlike punto baccarat, the game
is skill based. However there is
still a high probability that the
luck of the draw can cause the
player to lose. The three main types
of bets that are available in the
game are known as the 'banker',
'player', and 'tie.'
In casino baccarat, each card has a
separate value attached to it that
may or may not reflect the cards
face value. The Jacks, Queens, and
Kings are counted as 10. Two through
nine are counted at their face value
and the 10 can be counted as 0. The
sum of a player's cards must equal
ten without going over the value of
the dealer's cards. Each variation
counts the cards slightly different
and if a ten is drawn with another
card it is usually only counted as
one point instead of as ten.
In baccarat chemin de fer, the game
starts with the dealer - or croupier
- shuffling the cards and then
dealing to the player to his or her
left. The person sitting to the
right of the dealer also gets a set
of cards and becomes the banker. The
banker declares the betting stakes
of the game and each player bets
accordingly. In baccarat banque, a
loss to the banker means the play
passes to the next player instead of
ending the game. Three decks of
cards are usually used in banque
while six are used in chemin de fer.
In punto baccarat, the hand with the
most number of points between the
player and the banker is declared
the winner of the round.
