Bitcoin Baccarat
Baccarat is a very simple card game which can be played in virtually every bitcoin casino and brick-and-mortar casino in the world. Particularly in Asia, baccarat is a very popular casino game, even more popular than blackjack.
The good thing about baccarat is that it is a fast-paced bitcoin casino game and the odds of winning are quite high. You cannot really make any mistakes when playing and there are no strategies or tricks to the game. It is just about crossing your fingers, toes, legs or whatever you can and hope for the best as luck is all you need.
Some experienced casino players might not like baccarat for this reason, but there are also some who play nothing else. In fact, many high rollers swear by the game and can sit at the table for hours at a time and hope for that winning streak.
Here we will quickly go through the rules and setup of baccarat and how to get the most out of your baccarat game.
How to play baccarat
Place a bet, let the dealer show some cards and you will either win or lose. The game of baccarat can be described in such a simple way as you do not really need to know the rules in order to play and win. The game play is determined by a strict set of rules which the dealer has to follow making baccarat really simple to play.
But of course you would also like to know what is going on, so here are the rules explained in a bit more detail.
Before each round – also called coup – you need to place a bet on either: Player, Banker or Tie. If you bet on Player, you bet on the Player (yourself) to get the best hand, and if you bet on Banker, you bet on the dealer to get the best hand. In both cases you win at odds 2:1 meaning that if you bet 10 you will get 20 back.
If you choose to bet on Tie you will get your money back at odds 8:1 (in some casinos even 9 to 1). To win here there has to be a stand-off between the Player and the Banker which happens rarely.
The object of baccarat is to get as close to 9 in total cards value. The cards have the following values:
Ace = 1
9 – 2 = the face value
King to 10 = 0
A hand’s value can never exceed 9, so if you, for example, have an 8 and a 7 (total value of 15) 10 points will be subtracted so the real value is 5.
This is the dealing procedure in baccarat:
Both the Player and Banker are dealt 2 cards each. If any of them have a total value of 8 or 9 (also called a natural) then the hand is over and the hand closest to 9 wins.
If the hands have the same value is it a Tie.
If none of the hand totals are 8 or 9 then it’s the value of the Player’s cards that determines the rest of the game. If the Player has 6 or 7 he must stand, but if the value is between 0 and 5 he gets an additional card.
The Banker’s move depends on the value of his own two cards – and in some cases also the Player’s third card.
Banker’s total hand value:
7 = Banker always stands
6 = Banker takes one more card if the Player’s third card was a 6 or 7
5 = Banker takes one more card if the Player’s third card was 4 to 7
4 = Banker takes one more card if the Player’s third card was 2 to 7
3 = Banker takes one more card if the Player’s third card was not 8
2 to 0 = Banker always takes another card
After the Banker has received his third card are the hands compared, the one with the value closest to 9 wins.
The last part might seem complicated, but don’t worry – the dealer is taking care of it all. The only decision you have to take is to bet on Player, Banker or a Tie.
Winning in baccarat
As mentioned earlier, the chances of winning in baccarat quite high. In fact, you get really good odds of leaving the table as the winner because the house edge is quite low.
The house edge when you bet on either Player or Banker is really small while you should avoid betting on a Tie although the odds sound tempting. Here is the house edge for all three betting options:
Player – House edge: 1.24%
Banker – House edge: 1.06%
Tie – House edge: 14.4%
For this reason will you get the best chance of winning when betting on the Banker but be aware that here you will have to pay a 5% commission to the house in case of a win. However, it is still the most profitable bet you can make in baccarat.
Betting on a Tie should be avoided due to the high house edge, even in casinos where it is awarded with odds 9 to 1. Here the house edge is around 14% and thus still not profitable.
Please note that you may find variations of baccarat where the game play is slightly different and therefore the odds are also slightly different.
You might see baccarat referred to as Punto Banco, which is actually the correct name for the game you see in almost every bitcoin casino. Other Baccarat variations as Baccarat Chemin de Fer and Baccarat Banque requires more decisions for the player and the odds are for that reason also different.