Online Baccarat Card Game Review
Baccarat is a card game offered at most casinos around the globe. It is the most popular casino game by sheer amount of money won by its players, and the mathematical element which the game contains only adds to the allure of the game for a huge number of bettors. If you are looking to increase your knowledge or ability of baccarat, this is the place for you, as this article takes you through baccarat rules, as well as offering the option to play the game completely free to get as much practice as you feel you need before you begin to even think about playing properly.
Baccarat Rules (The Basics)
Online baccarat works with a regular deck of playing cards. In essence, there are two sides to the game, dealer and player, and each player is dealt two cards after the bets have been cast. The side with cards totalling closer to 9 in value wins, and the payout depends on which side you bet on.
Sounds complicated? Let’s break it down
Firstly, the deck of cards. In Baccarat, the cards between 2 and 9 each hold their corresponding value. The ace is valued at one, whilst the cards 10 through to King are worth 0 points. Therefore, the highest possible hand points-wise in theory is 18 (two nines), well over the threshold of the 9 for which players are aiming for. To combat this, for any total which reaches double figures, the first digit is removed. So, instead of two nines totalling 18 points, they would instead total 8 points.
So how do you bet?
There are three options when it comes to baccarat online betting. You can either bet on the player to win, the dealer to win, or a tie. A tie offers the highest payout if predicted correctly, as it is the least likely. The payout tends to be around 8x any money staked. If you bet on the player, you return double your stake, while if the dealer wins, you are rewarded with 195% of your original stake, while the dealer keeps 5% “commission”. These bets are placed before any cards are drawn, but only one pack of cards is used.
Stick or twist?
Unlike in other card games such as Blackjack, the player has no involvement with their hand, whether they stick or twist based solely on the cards, shown face up. In the case of Baccarat, the player hand will always stick on anything between 6 and 9 inclusive.
When the player doesn’t draw a card, if the dealer’s hand totals five or lower, they will draw another card. The majority of the time, the banker will stand on a total of seven or greater, although this is subject to what the player does.
Final thoughts
The basics of Baccarat, including what value the cards hold, how to bet and what your bets return, have been outlined here. However, this remains a basic description of how baccarat works. For more detail on how the game is played and to experience it yourself, head over to the baccarat free play in order to ensure that when it comes to playing for money, you never miss a trick.