Baccarat is among the most popular casino card games that continues to thrive even after decades from its invention. It is enjoyable and even ideal for people who want to experience the thrill of gambling but are just starting and do not have enough skills to play complicated games.
In the early times, baccarat is only played in land-based casinos, and gamblers have to visit a brick-and-mortar casino to partake in baccarat betting. But, thanks to technological advances, gamblers today can play baccarat in an online casino Malaysia. Casino operators have made the game easily accessible to their customers and even enabled baccarat betting through live casino Singapore, which means players can partake in a game with a live banker even without being physically present in a land-based casino.
The main goal of baccarat is for the players to guess which is the better hand or the hand that counts close to 9. They have to decide whether the better hand is the player hand (placing a Player Bet) or the banker hand (placing a Banker Bet). Players can also place a Tie Bet if they think both the player’s and the banker’s hands will have the same total.
Moreover, they can further add thrill and excitement to their baccarat betting by placing side bets. The most common side bets are 4-5-6 bet, Dragon Bonus, Dragon 7, Super Six, Perfect Pair, and Player Pair.
After the placing of bets, the banker then deals a two-card hand between themselves and the players. After which, the players will take their turn, and the banker will be the last to take a turn.
Apart from learning the objectives, gameplay, and bet types, gamblers keen to partake in baccarat betting have also to familiarize themselves with the rules of the game. In baccarat, there are general and specific rules.
The players and the banker have to follow these general baccarat rules:
- Each card type will have a specific value:
- Numerical cards 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 are counted at face value;
- Aces are counted as 1; and,
- 10’s and face cards are counted as 0.
- A hand with a total of 8 or 9 is called “natural.” In essence, this card wins, and neither the player nor banker can draw a third card.
- No total can be higher than 9; hence, if there is a total of 10 or higher, the player or the banker has to drop the first digit to determine their cards’ actual total value.
- The game results in a tie if the player and the banker have an equal total. In this instance, neither hand wins or loses.
The specific rules of baccarat revolve around the rules for the player’s hand and the banker’s hand – these essentially tell when a player or banker stands or draws a third card and at which values. For more information about the matter, read this infographic from 88ProAsia, which provides further details about baccarat betting.