Baccarat Rules
Baccarat is played with 8 decks of cards in a shoe. Cards from 2 to 9 are scored with their face value. 10 being the Queen, King, Joker, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. Tens are worth 0, Ace is worth 1, and all others are worth their face value.
The objective of the game is to have a hand worth more than the House without having a total of more than 9. If you have a total of 8, you have ‘natural’ bank. If you have a total of 9, you do not have any bank. You are required to hit on a soft 17 (with Ace and a 9 on the first two cards), otherwise you can’t bet. If you have a total of 10 you can stand if the House value not over 10, you have hit.
You bet on the outcome of the cards falling either on the Banker’s Hand (with the highest total if none of the previous ones won) or on the player’s hand (with the highest total if any one of the previous ones has been beaten). You can bet on multiple outcomes, and all of these edges are paid at the true odds of the event occurring. The event becomes less likely with multiple betting, but you can’t bet until the shoe is shuffled, so you wait for the first shoe to be dealt and then start your bets.
After all of the bets, the MPO500 shuffles the shoe and places the cards in the shoe, face down. Then starts the second round of bets. You can bet on the outcome of the first draw, the results of any other draw, the totals gained by any player, the top card of the remaining deck, or whether the Banker will go Bust.
The values of the various cards in a deck are as follows: An Ace is either 1 or 11; King is either a 1 or 11; Queen is either a 1 or 10; Jack is either a 1 or 9; 10 is either a 1 or an 11; 9 is a 10.
These cards, and the values of the cards in a shoe, are as follows: Ace is 1 or 11; King is a 10 or an 11; Queen is a 9; Jack is a 10; 10 is a King; 9 is a 10.
If you have an Ace and a King, which total 11, you have an ‘Ace-Killed’ hand. With two Kings, which total 10, you have a ‘Two-Pair’ hand. With both a King and an Ace, which total 9, you have a ‘Full House’ hand. A Three of a Kind hand consists of any three cards of the same rank; with no pairs, and no Full Houses. A Straight is any five cards in sequence not of the same suit; with no pairs, and no Full Houses.
The Flush consists of five cards of the same suit; with no pairs, and no Full Houses. It is made up of cards A-I-J-K-O. Like the Straight, only with no pairs, you will have a ‘Very High’ hand. The Golden Flush is the 21st best hand you can have (and the first three cards are the same suit).
The Straight Flush consists of five cards in the same suit, in no particular order; with no pairs, and no Full Houses. It is made up of cards A-K-Q-J-10. Again, like the Straight, you will have a ‘Very High’ hand. And finally, the Super Straight Flush consists of five cards in the same suit, but not in any specific order. It is made up of cards A-Q-J-10-K-5 (with no matching cards, of course). Again, you will have a ‘Super’ hand.
Now you have learned what cards make each hand, here are some tips on what to play and what to bet.
If you have never played Baccarat, you may want to start with a low bet, such as $1. The low bet allows you to use the table space and the coin slot to help you determine how the game works. The $1 bet has the least advantage to the house of all the bets in the game.
What you don’t want to do is just bet on a pre- identified number. You need to pay attention to the number and what it means. You don’t want to bet on two numbers the same time you could also bet on three or more numbers. This and the other bets have unfavorable odds.