Baccarat is one of these casino table games that seems to have been around forever, and is always associated with the super exclusive casinos of the South of France, Monte Carlo and Monaco, where the rich and famous would tie up their yachts, park their luxury sports cars and pass an evening playing this casino standard, which has several variations, Chemin de Fer or Punto Banco as well as a slightly more down market American version called Faro.

Despite its rich history and the glamour surrounding it, baccarat is one of the simplest games to take part in any casino setting. While many have described the game as the rich man’s blackjack, although there are some similarities, the rules of baccarat prevent any form of player intervention, which places it a few rungs in the ladder above blackjack, in the thinking player’s opinion at least.

A principal difference between Baccarat and most every other table game, with the notable exception of craps is that players at the table can bet against the house winning or the player holding the shoe or even a tie.

The rules of Baccarat and the strategies involved in playing it are as straightforward as can be. There is only one player at the table as well a representative of the house, or bank as it is known. The player can choose to deal or have the house deal for them. Each are dealt two cards, with the highest possible score from these two cards being a nine (the permutations being 1+8, 2+7, 3+6, 5+4 or ten or face card plus a 9). Tens and face cards have no value as do a combination of 2 and 8, 3 and 7, 4 and 6 or 5 and 5.

Both the player and the bank can choose to stand or draw after the first two cards have been dealt, although the bank cannot stand on a total of less than six, even if the player is holding a hand of lesser value. The bank only draws their third card after the player has completed their hand, bearing in mind that they cannot be burst. Players are obliged to draw a card if their hand values less than two, irrespective of what the dealer is holding. In every instance, whoever has the highest hand wins, unless they both finish the hand with cards of the same value, in which case the hand is declared a tie, and the player has their stake money returned.

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