Learning how to play casino card games can be a difficult task. They say Texas Hold’em takes minutes to learn but a lifetime to master, well baccarat takes seconds to learn and well, quite simply, no mastery is requires since it is one of the simplest games you could ever wish to meet on the casino floor.

Many casino card games require a certain level of skill as well the as the accepted stroke of luck. Where baccarat differs from these other games is in the fact that it is 100% chance. The object of the game is not to play against the banker’s hand, but simply to bet on whether you think the “banker” or “player” will win the hand or whether there will be a tie.

Betting takes place before any cards have been seen. They place their bet on the “player”, the “banker” or on a “tie”. Any winnings are paid at even money if a player opts for “player” or “banker”, whereas the outside bet of both hands being a “tie” will pay handsome odds of 8-1.

Once all bets have been placed, 2 cards are dealt to each player in the game. The values of each card are added up to give the score for each hand. Normal cards numbered 2 to 9 score their face value, aces score 1 and picture cards and tens score nothing. The hand with a value greater than 5 but less than 9 is the winning hand and bets are paid out accordingly. If both hands are of the same value (between 6 and 9), the hand is tied.

If a hand is greater than 9, the leading digit of the sum of the 2 cards is dropped, ie. A player is dealt 6 & 5 = 11, their hand scores 1. If, after dealing the first 2 cards to each hand, neither can score over 5, a final third card is dealt to each hand and the outcome is determined on the highest hand of 3 cards.

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