Baccarat Facts
The elegant game of baccarat first began in Italy in the 15th century.  It quickly became the favored game of French aristocracy.  The word baccarat is derived from “baccara” which is the Italian word for zero, referring to point value of the face card and 10’s.  The version currently played in casinos was developed in the 1950’s in Havana, Cuba.  Even though this game still attracts high rollers, it’s an uncomplicated, easy game of chance.

How to Play
In baccarat, the purpose of the game is to achieve a hand with a point total closest to 9.  Aces count as one, 2 through 9 as their face value with tens and face cards count as zero.  If the value of the hand is ten points or more, subtract ten.  The remainder is the baccarat point value of the hand.  An example would be 7 + 8 = 15, the baccarat point value would be 5.

Place your wager on the banker’s hand or on the player’s hand and/or on a tie.  Next, the player and banker are each dealt a two-card hand.  In some cases, a third card is dealt to the player or banker or both.

If you placed your bet on the player and the player wins, you are paid 2 for 1 winnings on your bet. If you placed your bet on the banker and the banker wins, you are paid 2 for 1 less a 5% bank commission.  The bank commission is called vigorish.  If both the player’s hand and the banker’s hand have equal totals, the game result is a ‘tie’.  If you have placed a bet on the ‘tie’, your payoff is 9.

Baccarat Strategy
* Stay away from the tie bet, it gives the house a large edge
* The banker has a bit more of an edge against the house

Head to CasinoCashJourney.com for more strategies, history, terminology, table layouts, charts and tips including third card rules in the game of baccarat.