High Class Baccarat

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It’s Bondesque, chic and elegant while maintaining elements of the debonair all wrapped up into a neatly ‘roped-off’ section of your favourite online casino. Players of this great game will take particular note of the high minimum bets involved.

One of the elements of Baccarat that has players intrigued is that fact that the house has the lowest edge of any casino game. It’s merely 1.06%. So all things being equal, if you wager $1000 you’re likely to get back $989.40 all the time.

Baccarat players are able to play the rapid-fire version of the game called Mini-Baccarat. While the odds remain the same you can expect to get through several hundred hands per hour – not exactly much time to keep a clear head.

But to the Baccarat enthusiast, there’s nothing but the simplicity of the game itself that is the real appeal. The way it works is as follows: two hands of cards are dealt. One is called the Banker and the other the Player. But in truth there is no player or banker specifically.

The players – all those placing wagers – will have the option of betting on either one of the two options. And the higher hand always wins. Naturally as in Roulette with the 0 option, there is also a Tie option here in Baccarat. It’s rare but it happens and when it does, the house edge is over 14%.

For anyone interested in the odds/stats of certain bets they’re readily available. Player favored bets have significantly higher house edges at 1.24%. Most bets are placed on the Banker hand. It has a house edge of only 1.06%. The good news is that includes the 5% house commission.

Each Player/Banker hand gets dealt three cards tops. The hand closer to 9 wins and only the final digit of the two-card total is counted.  You can never go bust in Baccarat, unlike a similar game -Blackjack. For example, a hand of 8 and 7 (15) is counted as a 5. Furthermore face cards have 0 value and Ace cards count as 1.  

Here’s how you score the winning hand. 9 is an automatic winner unless the opposing hand also has a 9. Then it’s scored as a Tie. 8 is an instant winner unless the other side has a 9. And the most important aspect of Baccarat is the rules. Players can’t determine whether to stand or hit – they must follow the rules.

Between 0-5 the Player hand hits. Conversely the Player stands from 6-9. The Banker hand has a comprehensive table of rules to determine whether he/she hits or stands. The game virtually runs on autopilot and there is little need for strategies.

Well, most of the game of Baccarat runs itself. The player needs to simply wager on Player or Banker or Tie. Then there is the issue of commissions. The online casino takes 5% commission on Banker bets. Expect up to 130 hands per hour on Baccarat. The most appealing part for new players is the choice between real money gaming and playing for free.

As there are usually 8 decks of cards in a typical Baccarat game, the random element of the gaming is once again at the forefront. Bets placed on a Player pay out 1 to 1. And bets placed on a Banker have a payoff of 19 to 20. But a bet placed on a tie or draw pays out 9 times your wager. Enjoy the game.