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Baccarat
Baccarat is supposed to have been introduced into France from Italy
during the reign of Charles VIII of France. There are two accepted
varieties of the game:baccarat chemin de fer (railway) and baccarat
banque (or a deux tableaux).
Baccarat has many points of resemblance to blackjack, but the element
of chance is much more prominent. The stakes are made before any
card is dealt, and one player plays for several. There is therefore,
save on the part of the banker, scarcely any scope for personal
skill or judgment.
The object of the game is to hold such cards as shall together
amount to the point of nine. The cards from ace to nine count each
according to the number of its pips. Court cards are equivalent
to tens, and ten at this game is BACCARAT, a synonym for zero. Thus
a player holding a three and a ten (or court card) is considered
to have three only; a player holding two tens and a five counts
five only. And not only is a tenth card baccarat (0), but ten occurring
as part of a total score, however made, is disregarded; so that
a five and a six count, not as eleven, but as one only; three, seven
and five, not as fifteen, but as five; and so on.
Baccarat Chemin de Fer
Six full packs of cards of the same pattern are used, shuffled together.
The players seat themselves round the table. In the centre is a
basket for the reception of the used cards. If there is any question
as to the relative positions of the players, it is decided by lot.
The person who draws the first place seats himself next on the right
hand of the croupier, and the rest follow in succession. The croupier
shuffles the cards, and then passes them on, each player having
the right to shuffle in turn. When they have made the circuit of
the table, the croupier again shuffles, and, having done so, offers
the cards to the player on his left, who cuts. The croupier places
the cards before him, and, taking a manageable quantity from the
top, hands it to the player on his right, who for the time being
is dealer, or "banker." The other players are punters.
The dealer places before him the amount he is disposed to risk,
and the players "make their stakes." Any punter, beginning
with the player on the immediate right of the dealer, is entitled
to "go bank," viz. to play against the whole of the banker's
stake. If no one says "Banco" (which is the formula by
which the desire to go bank is expressed), each player places his
stake before him. If the total so staked by the seated players is
not equal to the amount for the time being in the bank, other persons
standing round may stake in addition. If it is more than equal to
the amount in the bank, the punters nearest in order to the banker
have the preference up to such amount, the banker having the right
to decline any stake in excess of that limit.
The stakes being made, the banker proceeds to deal four cards,
face downwards, the first, for the punters, to the right; the second
to himself; the third for the punters, the fourth to himself. The
player who has the highest stake represents the punters. If two
punters are equal in this respect, the player first in rotation
has the preference. Each then looks at his cards. If he finds that
they make either NINE, the highest point at Baccarat, OR EIGHT,
the next highest, he turns them up, announcing the number aloud,
and the hand is at an end.
If the banker's point is the better, the stakes of the punter become
the property of the bank. If the punters' point is the better, the
banker (or the croupier for him) pays each punter the amount of
his stake. The stakes are made afresh, and the game proceeds. If
the banker has been the winner, he deals again. If otherwise, the
cards are passed to the player next in order, who thereupon becomes
banker in his turn.
We will now take the case that neither party turns up his cards;
this is tantamount to an admission that neither has eight or nine.
In such case the banker is bound to offer a third card. If the point
of the punter is baccarat (i.e. cards together amounting to ten
or twenty, = 0), one, two, three, or four, he accepts as a matter
of course, replying, "Yes," or "Card." A third
card is then given to him, face upwards. If his point if already
six or seven, he will, equally as a matter of course, REFUSE the
offered card. To accept a card with six or seven, or refuse with
baccarat, one, two, three, or four (known in either case as a "false
draw"), is a breach of the established procedure of the game,
and brings down upon the head of the offender the wrath of his fellow-punters;
indeed, in some circles he is made liable for any loss they may
incur thereby, and in others is punishable by a fine. At the point
of five, and no other, is it optional to the punter whether to take
a card or not; nobody has the right to advise him, or to remark
upon his decision.
The banker has now to decide whether he himself will draw a card,
being guided in his decision partly by the cards he already holds,
partly by the card (if any) drawn by the punter, and partly by what
he may know or guess of the latter's mode of play. If he has hesitated
over his decision, the banker maybe pretty certain (unless such
hesitation was an intentional blind) that his original point was
five, and as the third card (if any) is exposed, his present point
becomes equally a matter of certainty. The banker, having drawn
or not drawn, as he may elect, exposes his cards, and receives or
pays as the case may be. Ties neither win nor lose, but the stakes
abide the result of the next hand.
The banker is not permitted to withdraw any part of his winnings,
which go to increase the amount in the bank. Should he at any given
moment desire to retire, he says, "I pass the deal." In
such case each of the other players, in rotation, has the option
of taking it, but he must start the bank with the same amount at
which it stood when the last banker retired. Should no one present
care to risk to high a figure, the deal passes to the player next
on the right hand of the retiring banker, who is in such case at
liberty to start the bank with such amount as he thinks fit, the
late banker now being regarded as last in order of rotation, though
the respective priorities are not otherwise affected.
A player who has "gone bank," and lost, is entitled to
do so again on the next hand, notwithstanding that the deal may
have "passed" to another player.
When the first supply of cards is exhausted, the croupier takes
a fresh handful from the heap before him, has them cut by the player
on his left, and hands them to the banker. To constitute a valid
deal, there must be not less than seven cards left in the dealer's
hand. Should the cards in hand fall below this number, they are
thrown into the wastebasket, and the banker takes a fresh supply
as above mentioned.
Baccarat Banque
In Baccarat Chemin de Fer, it will have been noticed that a given
bank only continues so long as the banker wins. So soon as he loses,
it passes to another player. In Baccarat Banque the position of
banker is much more permanent. Three packs of cards,(The number
is not absolute, sometimes four packs, sometimes two only, being
used; but three is the more usual number). shuffled together, are
in this case used, and the banker (unless he retires either of his
own free will, or by reason of the exhaustion of his finances) holds
office until the whole of such cards have been dealt.
The bank is at the outset put up to auction, i.e. belongs to the
player who will undertake to risk the largest amount. In some circles,
the person who has first set down his name on the list of players
has the right to hold the first bank, risking such amount as he
may think proper.
The right to begin having been ascertained, the banker takes his
place midway down one of the sides of an oval table, the croupier
facing him, with the waste-basket between. On either side the banker
are the punters, ten such constituting a full table. Any other persons
desiring to take part remain standing, and can only play in the
event of the amount in the bank for the time being not being covered
by the seated players.
The croupier, having shuffled the cards, hands them for the same
purpose to the players to the right and left of him, the banker
being entitled to shuffle them last, and to select the person by
whom they shall be cut. Each punter having made his stake, the banker
deals three cards, the first to the player on his right, the second
to the player on his left, and the third to himself; then three
more in like manner. The five punters on the right (and any bystanders
staking with them) win or lose by the cards dealt to that side;
the five others by the cards dealt to the left side. The rules as
to turning up with eight or nine, offering and accepting cards,
and so on, are the same as at Baccarat Chemin de Fer.
Each punter continues to hold the cards for his side so long as
he wins. If he lose, the next hand is dealt to the player next following
him in rotation.
Any player may "go bank," the first claim to do so belonging
to the punter immediately on the right of the banker; the next to
the player on his left, and so on alternatively in regular order.
If two players on opposite sides desire to "go bank,"
they go half shares.
A player going bank may either do so on a single hand, in the ordinary
course, or a cheval, i.e. on two hands separately, one-half of the
stake being played upon each hand. A player going bank and losing,
may again go bank; and if he again loses, may go bank a third time,
but not further.
A player undertaking to hold the bank must play out one hand, but
may retire at anytime afterwards. On retiring, he is bound to state
the amount with which he retires. It is then open to any other player
(in order of rotation) to continue the bank, starting with the same
amount, and dealing from the remainder of the pack, used by his
predecessor. The outgoing banker takes the place previously occupied
by his successor.
The breaking of the bank does not deprive the banker of the right
to continue, provided that he has funds wherewith to replenish it,
up to the agreed minimum.
Should the stakes of the punters exceed the amount for the time
being in the bank, the banker is not responsible for the amount
of such excess. In the event of his losing, the croupier pays the
punters in order of rotation, so far as the funds in the bank will
extend; beyond this, they have no claim. The banker, may, however,
in such a case, instead of resting on his right, declare the stakes
accepted, forthwith putting up the needful funds to meet them. In
such event the bank thenceforth becomes unlimited, and the banker
must hold all stakes (to whatever amount) offered on any subsequent
hand, or give up the bank.
The laws of baccarat are complicated and no one code is accepted
as authoritative, the different clubs making their own rules.
Card Counting
In Blackjack, it is possible to count cards and bet more when it
is favorable to the player. In Baccarat, it is impossible to gain
an advantage by counting. The cards played on previous hands affect
the odds for hands later in the shoe, but not to the extent that
a player has positive expectation.
This article is licensed under
the GNU Free Documentation
License. It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "baccarat".
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