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Here we are going to explain the American baccarat(or so called Punto Banco) rules and just mention the other kinds. It's a very simple to play game. The dealer does the complicated part. You need only decide whether to wager on Banker, Player, or Tie.


AREAS ON A BACCARAT TABLE

1. Caller ("Croupier")
2. Dealer
3. Dealer
4. Drop Box
5. Discard Trays
6. Tips box

Up to 14 players occupy the seats which correspond to the numbers on the layout. The No. 13 seat is eliminated, because of the superstition that surrounds the number. So, the 14th player will be seated at No. 15. In front of the players is a section for placing wagers.

Each player has three betting areas associated with his position at the table, corresponding to the possible choices at the beginning of each game: "Banker", "Player" or "Tie".

Three dealers service each table. The dealer standing at position 1 is known as the "caller" or "croupier", and directs the play of the game and makes calls on the hands. Two other dealers work on the position 2 and 3. One dealer serves players 1 through 7, the other serves 8 through 14. They pay bets when a player wins and takes bets away on losses. In the croupier area there are numbered boxes, which are used to track how much commission each player owes the house.


THE VALUE OF THE CARDS

To compute the value of a hand you sum the values of the hand's cards(see the table).

Ace	1
10, K, Q, J	10
1 - 9	face value

If the value of the hand exceeds 9, you drop the first digit to get the real value of your hand. For example, a hand consisting of a 9 and a 5(the sum is 14) has a value of 4. As such, it is impossible to 'bust' a hand in baccarat like in blackjack.

If the sum of the first 2 dealt cards is 8 or 9 the hand is called "a natural".


PLAYING THE GAME

A game is started by dealing two cards to the player and two cards to the banker. Then the value of each hand is calculated and:

1. If one and only one of both the player and the dealer hands is "a natural" (8 or 9), the natural hand wins.
   
   
2. If both hands are "a natural" and one and only one hand equals 9, le grande "natural" (9) wins over le petit "natural" (8).
   
   
3. If both hands are "a natural" and equal in value, the game ends in a tie.
   
   
4. Otherwise one more card have to be dealt or not to the player(first to him) and the dealer. Considering this 3rd card a new computation is made and the winner is the hand closest to 9, or in case the hands are equal, it is a tie. The 3rd card is dealt following the rules(also see the table below):
   • If the player has total of 6 or 7, the player stands(no card is dealt to him).
   • If the player has total of 5 or less, the player automatically hits and the banker gives the player a third card.
   • If the banker has total of 0, 1, 2: Banker always draws a third card.
   • If the banker has total of 3: Banker draws if Player's Third Card is 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-9-0 (not 8)
   • If the banker has total of 4: Banker draws if Player's Third Card is 2-3-4-5-6-7
   • If the banker has total of 5: Banker draws if Player's Third Card is 4-5-6-7
   • If the banker has total of 6: Banker draws if Player's Third Card is of 6-7
   • If the banker has total of 7: Banker always stands

	Player's 3rd card
BT	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
7	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
6	S	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	S	S
5	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	S	S
4	S	S	H	H	H	H	H	H	S	S
3	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	S	H
2	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
1	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
0	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H

H - Hit(get new card), S - Stand, BT - Banker's Total


BETTING

There are three betting options in Baccarat.

• BETTING ON THE PLAYER HAND: By placing your gaming chips in the "Player" area in front of you, you are betting on the player hand. You win the bet, if the player hand at the end of the round (after all drawing and dealing are done), will be greater than the dealer's. In this case, you are paid even money(1 to 1) and charged no commission. The house edge for this bet is 1.29%.
  
  
• BETTING ON THE BANK HAND: By placing your gaming chips in the "Banker"area in front of you, you are betting on the Banker hand. You win the bet, if the banker hand at the end of the round will be greater than the player's. In this case, you are paid even money and charged the standard 5% commission fee on the amount that you won. In order not to slow down the game, the dealer does not collect the "vigorish" after each round. He pays even money to winning banker bets and keeps records of the commission every player owes. After the finish of a shoe, or when a player wants to leave before the end of a shoe, the dealer will collect the accumulated commission. When you bet on the "Banker's" hand, the casino has advantage of 1.01%. It is one of the lowest house advantages in the casino.
  
  
• BETTING ON A TIE HAND: If you want to bet on the Tie hand, you will place your gaming chips in the "Tie" area or on the number corresponding to your seat. A bet on a Tie pays 8 to 1 without any commission fee. If there is a tie, bets on the "Banker or "Player" are returned, but you can leave them on the betting area for the next round or increase/decrease your bet. Tie Bet is the worst bet in baccarat since this bet has a house advantage of 15.75%.

GAME VARIANTS

There are three present-day games that are essentially the same and sometimes all thought of as baccarat. They are:

• CHEMIN DE FER: This game is played in some European casinos, but is not played in the U.K. and North America. The goal is the same (to get as close to 9 as possible) but the rules allow a few conditions where drawing a card is optional. The casino doesn't play the role of banker, the players bet against each other, the players take turns being the banker-dealer (the option may be declined, and it then passes to the next player to the right) the house takes a standard cut out of the player banker's winning coup.
  
  
• BACCARAT: This game is the only game played in the U.K. and North America and usually the stakes are high. The rules discussed on this page fit here.
  
  
• MINI-BACCARAT: A new version of the game. The game is played at a blackjack sized table with up to seven players. The rules are the same as for the full version of baccarat, however to speed up the game the players don't touch the cards they are dealt by the casino dealer. The stakes are much lower for this game than the full version, this plus the less formal atmosphere make this version appeal to many players.