Baccarat

Comparing Baccarat to Various Casino Card Games

Like Poker and Blackjack, Baccarat is a card comparing game. Dissimilar to Poker and Blackjack in one major respect, Baccarat has the specific and noticeable characteristic in that the most popular version of the game, Punto Banco, requires no skill whatsoever to play.

A wagering game of the purest order, the idea of Baccarat is to compare the face value of your cards to those of the banker. However, during the course of the game, you do not actually get to make any decisions that alter the value of your hand. The only decisions that a player needs to make in a game of baccarat are regarding the size of the wager and the type of bet. This leads to a sustained level of action that many people feel  is totally necessary, and, in fact that a requirement for evaluating good entertainment should be a racing heart, heightened concentration and adrenaline squirting out their ears. It is for these adrenaline junkies that the game of baccarat is ideally suited, and hence the popularity in the Philippines.

The very simplicity of this game makes it quick to learn and easy to play. A game of Baccarat has three winning options; either the player wins, the banker wins, or there is a tie. The ‘banker’ in Baccarat does not mean the ‘house’ as it does in more traditional card games, and during game play, players have the option of being able to bet on either their own hand or on the bankers’ hand, or even on a tie occurring.

The Way the Cards Add Up in Baccarat

The game of Baccarat was originally invented in France, and was enjoyed in selected casinos, but remained largely unknown to the rest of the world. It was only after 1953 that the game effectively went viral when James Bond played it in the first movie, Casino Royale. Everyone wanted to play it after that.  Today it is the betting game of choice for many casino high rollers, and, due to its fascinating set of rules and gambling possibilities, baccarat is enjoying a fresh wave of popularity with players who to take pleasure in an action packed gambling adventure that is available for enjoyment on a rich variety of sites. Most importantly, baccarat lends itself to the online environment like a hand in a glove.

An extraordinary slant to Baccarat is the way the cards are added up during game play. The cards are added up strictly according to their face value, with the ace being 1 and all picture cards being 0. The aim is to have as high a total as possible, with 9 being the perfect number. When the cards are added up and the total goes into double figures, the single digit number, or most right hand number is used as the total, i.e. if your cards are a 4 and a 9, the total is 13 and, as can be seen your hand value is 3. Based on the hand value and the rules of the particular game being played, a further card is automatically drawn. Similar to Blackjack, a direct winning hand in Baccarat consists of two cards adding up to 8 or 9, which in Baccarat is known as a ‘natural hand’.

Pure wagering aptitude and delight in action-based gaming are, however, requirements in this online and mobile casino gem. Not for the faint of heart.

 

Robyn Barnes