Baccarat is a card game belonging to the family of casino games called punto banco. It is the one of the few well-known card games not originating from Europe. The game is played with six or eight decks of cards shuffled together, dealt from a shoe, and up to eight players can play at once against one another while sitting around a table.
Basic Strategy
There are two basic strategies employed in playing Baccarat99th baccarat. First is the “buy in” strategy, where a player sizes up the game and then makes a decision to buy in versus “hedging” his or her bets. A second strategy is called the “Buy out” strategy. This is where a player stakes more than the money he stands to lose, but less than he stands to win and uses that money differential to play for more than what he currently has on the table.
The Table
While the game of baccarat has never been very popular in the United States, it is very popular in casinos around the world. The minimum bet for most U.S. table games ranges between $5 and $500, depending on the casino and location, but that can be as high as $2,500 in some casinos located outside of the country. The game of baccarat is played against the house, unlike most table games where players bet against each other. Since there is no true “house hold edge” to factor in and the game itself has a very low win rate, casinos do not have to pay as much out in winnings as they do on a casino slot machine. This makes it even more lucrative for them.
Baccarat Players
Every baccarat player can be classified by four basic categories: bettor, punter, gambler or hedge player. A bettor is the most prized kind of player to casinos. A bettor bets only what he can afford to lose and treats his gambling as an entertainment expense, just like a night at a show or a meal. The next best classification is the punter, who can be either professional or amateur. A professional punter bets high and often, while an amateur gambler is someone who occasionally hits it big, but also loses a lot of money at times.