How to Play Baccarat

Playing baccarat is easy and players should not be deterred by the game simply because it has gotten a reputation as an exclusive game. The game was made famous in modern times thanks to James Bond's character that would usually prefer to play baccarat in casinos against his nemesis.

However the game itself, although enjoys an allure of sophistication, is relatively an easy game and players who enjoy playing blackjack and other card games can easily learn it and have a great time playing it.

The game is played with a 52 cards deck and usually 6 to 8 decks are used for playing. Each card has a point value associated with it. An ace is worth 1, 10's and face cards have no value and are worth zero and all other cards have the value that is noted on them.
The purpose of the game is to reach a total card value of 9, but there are 3 different versions of the game. In the original French baccarat Chemin de Fer a player is dealt a hand and must beat the bankers hand in order to win the bet. The banker during each round is a different player and the role of banker moves from player to player only when the player who is the current banker loses.

However when playing baccarat Banque the banker role also moves from player to player but only after all 3 decks shuffled for the game have been used or the banker retires of their own accord.

In the North American version of the game Punto Banco the game is very different in its wagering. This is the most common form of Baccarat played today and player need to make a wager of which hand would win; the banker's hand or the player's hand.