Online Baccarat rules and strategy

Baccarat is a mysterious guest from the Middle Ages, James Bond's favorite game and baccarat rules are simply an exquisite way to satisfy your gambling ambitions. This game became popular several centuries ago and still has a lot of fans. No one can tell exactly when and where baccarat strategy was born, but according to the most popular versions, they are either of Italian or French origin. The name «Baccarat» shows Italian roots, as the Italian word «baccara» means «zero», and that is the rank of some of the cards in the game.

Many historians consider the “father” and creator of the baccarat system to be F. Falguere, a resident of sunny Italy. France, however, was the country where this game became very popular over time, and from where it spread all over the world. In the 17th -19th centuries, all of the French elite played baccarat: nobles, aristocrats, and even the King and his court. Today this simple but multifaceted and interesting game still considered entertainment for true connoisseurs of the best card games.

Nowadays, anyone visiting an online casino can play internet baccarat, as all of the most popular and respected casinos will doubtlessly have baccarat among their game collection. Though there are several variations of the game, in online casinos you will most probably see simple online baccarat, or Punto Banco.

The rules of the game are not complicated for the player; all they need is good intuition, a little bit of luck and the right bet. Everything else in the game runs automatically.

The player has to become familiar with baccarat system, to be precise to guess who will win the next hand, and place a bet accordingly: the banker, the player or a tie. Then the following rules are applied: the player (Punto) and the banker (Banco) receive two cards each. The winner is the one whose cards’ total is closer to 9, which is the maximum amount of points in baccarat. In certain conditions, a third card is automatically given out.

The points in baccarat are counted in a specific way and in the internet baccarat they are counted in the same way. There are 8 standard 52-card decks in the game. After the deal the following rules are applied: 2 - 9 correspond to the card nominal, cards from 10 to the king are equal to zero, and an ace is worth 1 point. There is another rule for scoring: if the sum is 2-digit, the first digit is to be omitted. For example, 2 and 6 make up 8 points, but if you have a 9 and a 4, which equal to 13, this combination will only be worth 3 points, as the first digit is omitted according to the rules. In the case that the banker and the player have an equal score, it is a draw.

Baccarat strategy is a little bit like blackjack. However, unlike blackjack, a third card is handed out automatically according to the rules and independent of the player's decision.

Whether or not a third card needed, depends on the sum of points that the players have after they have been dealt two cards. It is never dealt if either the banker or the player already has 8 or 9 points, as these are winning scores. These are the baccarat rules.

The player is automatically dealt a third card if the sum of his two cards is equal to 0-5 points. If the player has 6 or 7 points, he stops automatically. In this case, the banker is also dealt a third card if he has 0-5 points, and has to stop if he has 6 or 7 points.

If the player has been dealt a third card, the player’s score determines whether the banker is dealt a third card or not. In this case, the following baccara rules come into effect:

After all of the cards have been dealt automatically, the winner is determined or a draw is announced. Your bet won if you guessed the result of the game. Bets placed on the player and banker are paid 1:1, and bets on a draw – 9:1.

Online baccarat is a fascinating and dynamic game, which can be quite profitable. If you are used to counting on your own intuition and luck, if you like dynamic and exciting gambling games, then baccarat is definitely the game for you.