Baccarat

The “high-roller’s” game of choice, baccarat gets it’s roots from the French nobility and considered by most to be one of the elite casino games. At most casinos, baccarat rooms are usually seperated from the main gambling floor and held behind velvet red ropes. However, behind all of the fancy trimmings, baccarat is quite a simple game to learn.

The Object of Baccarat

The object of baccarat is very simple: get a total of 9, or as close to 9 as possible in two or three cards. The cards 2 through 9 count at their face value, aces count as 1, and 10, Jack, Queen, and King count as 0. If the face value of two cards totals more than 9, 10 is subtracted. For instance: a 9 and a 6 would equal 5 (15 minus 10). Each hand is limited to three cards and you can not take a third card if the total of your first two cards is 6 or higher.

Natural Hands in Baccarat

There are two natural hands in Baccarat. These hands occur in baccarat when the first two cards in either the player’s hand or the dealer’s hand total an 8 or a 9. If the player has a natural 8 or 9, the dealer does not get to draw a third card. Likewise, if the dealer’s hand in baccarat is a natural 8 or 9, the player can not draw a third card.

Natural hands beat all other hands in baccarat and the only hand that beats a natural 8 is a natural 9.