Baccarat Bite-Marks

Basic Rules In Playing Baccarat

Six or eight complete card deck of cards is required for baccarat. The face cards (ace to nine) counts according to their value. Tens and face cards equal to zero. When two cards go beyond 10, the second digit is considered as the hand's value. After the cards are shuffled by the dealer, they are reshuffled again and kept in a covered box called the shoe.

For the sake of formality, each participant gets a chance to handle the shoe explaining what he plans to do. The player holding the shoe is expected to wager the bank, but any player may bypass the shoe and pass it to the next player. The player who calls out the bet receives the cards from the player holding the shoe and then chooses another card or declares a winner, based on the strict rules of the game.

All American casinos apply these permanent rules of baccarat:

The maximum possible total of a hand is nine. A natural card (two cards totaling nine) is unbeatable. A natural eight (two cards with a total of eight) is the second-best hand. When similar hands are received by player and bank, it is considered a tie and no player wins.

When both hands are not a natural, the hand of the player is dealt first followed by the hand of the dealer. Another card is picked when two cards total five or less. Additional cards will no longer be picked if their total is six or seven.

Either hand is only allowed to have a maximum of three cards. When the two hands have been dealt, the hand closest to nine is the winner.

Betting is done by players placing their chips in either the player, bank or tie slots in the numbered boxes parallel to their seats. Pay offs are given equally when bets made on the player or bank wins. A tie bet that wins yields an 8:1 payoff. Players can only decide on the type and the amount of bet then the action of the dealer takes over the game. After declaring the winner, the remaining two dealers pay off the successful bets and then collect from the losing players. When it is the bank that wins, a 5% commission from their winnings must be paid.

The record of commissions payable by each player should be kept in a numbered box with plastic lammers. Players can choose to pay their commissions at a certain time but should be once the shoe is completed. Every time a card is deducted from the shoe, all the deck of cards should be completely shuffled and returned to the shoe.