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Baccarat
Baccarat, a
gambling card game, 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.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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