Game of Baccarat 

Baccarat is a game that is played on a table much like blackjack. There are three basic bets that can be made these include, Banker, Player, and Tie. Two hands are dealt from a shoe which consists of six to eight decks of cards, the hands dealt are the Banker hand and the Player hand. Each hand receives two cards and the added sum of the two cards determines the value of the hand. 

The object of the game is to bet on the hand which you think will have the highest value, either the banker or player, a bet that the two hands will tie can also be made. The highest possible value of a hand is nine; face cards (kings, queens, jacks) and ten have a value of zero. If total value of a hand rises above ten then the value starts from zero again, for example (5 + 7 = 12, final value = 2). 

Bets made cannot be raised or retracted once the hand starts. Winning bets on Player or Banker return a win of 1:1 and winning bets on Tie return a win of 8:1. However an important thing to note is casinos charge a commission on winning bank bets, normally around five percent, this changes the odds on the banker bet to 0.95:1. The actual percentage may vary from casino to casino. If a tie occurs your bet is returned with no loss. 

There are special cases depending on the value of either the banker hand or the player hand where a third card will be drawn. This is as follows. 

Player Hand: When the hand has an initial value of 6 or more the player stands and receives no third card. If the initial value is less then the players draws one more card. 

Banker Hand: If the hand has an initial value of 7 or more, the banker stands and receives no other card, 8 and 9 win. If the hand however values either, 0, 1, or 2, then another card is drawn. For hands that value from 3 to 6, drawing a third card depends on the value of the player’s hand.