The บาคาร่า is a card game played mostly in casinos. It’s a game mostly residing in chances unlike games like blackjack which depends highly on strategy. The origin of the game is disputed some say it dates back to the 19th century and some say it was taken from France to Italy in the late 15th century by Italian soldiers (in the wars under Charles 4). It was played in private game rooms of France before the legalisation of gambling there.
What exactly is บาคาร่า?
The บาคาร่า is played with a 6-card or 8-card Deck from which 2 to 3 cards are utilised. In the game, the two hands are compared between two hands, “The player” and “The bank”. The hand that has the highest score wins the game. The person playing bets on the odds of the chosen hand winning the game. The player can also bet on a tie but most people avoid it as it has a lower chance of occurring (one in eleven cards dealt).
Variation in บาคาร่า
Punto Banco
The Punto Banco is the traditional high-stakes version บาคาร่า. It is played on large tables on an 8 or 6-deck card on a shoe (a device used to reduce the shuffling time). One croupier handles the game while two dealers handle the bets and pay-out. It is widely played in Asia.
Mini-Baccarat
The Mini-Baccarat is the low-stakes version บาคาร่า famous among people that are casual players of the บาคาร่า. It’s mostly played at small tables with a smaller number of players. There is not much difference between the pay-out of mini-baccarat and Baccarat.
Chemin de Fer
The Chemin de fer is an older version of the game. The term Chemin de fer is used for “railway in French”. The game first appeared in the late 19th century. It is played on an oval table in which with a 6-deck card and cards are distributed from right to counter clockwise. It is still the most famous version in France.
How the game is played?
บาคาร่า starts with the player sitting at the table and the player choosing either “The Player” or “The Bank” hand to bet on. After choosing one hand either the game follows these steps:
Step 1: Cards are dealt.
Once the bet is chosen the cards are dealt in either by another player or the host. Two cards for each hand are drawn from a 6-card or 8-card Deck. The handing of cards starts with “The player” face down and then it is handed in to “The bank”.
Step 2: Calculating Points for the game.
Once the card is dealt their faces are turned and points are calculated from the two cards. The calculation is based on the different numbers assigned to each card in the hand. The different points are assigned to each card according to which the final score is decided. These card points are as follows: –
• The Aces are assigned 1 point.
• The Numbers cards belonging to any suit have the points assigned according to their face value from 2 to 9.
• The face cards and 10 have been assigned 0 points.
The highest score is 9 so, if the number exceeds 10 then the last digit of the point is calculated. For example, if the number is 19 then a score of 9 is calculated.
Step 3: The natural win.
If either of the hand has a score of 8 or 9 then it wins. This win is called a natural win and the game is over.
Step 4: The third card is drawn.
If the score hasn’t reached the score of 8 or 9 then the third card is drawn from The p yer’s hand. But the player’s hand will stand if its score is 7 or 8. The banker’s third card depends entirely on the third card drawn from the player’s hand. The dependence is as follows:
• If the third player card is 0 then the banker draws.
• If the third player card is 2 or 3 then the banker draws if he has 0-2 points and passes at 3-7.
• If the third player card is 4 or 5 then the banker draws if he has 0-5 and passes at 6-7
• If the third player card is 6 or 7 then the banker draws if he has 0-6 points and passes at a 7.
• If the third player card is 8 then the banker draws if he has 0-2 points and passes 3-7.
• If the third player card is 9 or 10 then the banker draws if he has points and passes at 4-7.
Step 5: The winner is calculated.
Once you have dealt the third score is calculated and the points closer to 9 win the game.
The payoff for each bet is different
The payoff for each bet in บาคาร่า is different and may vary from casino to casino but mostly all pay off is as follows: –
Player bet:
The player bet pays off at a ratio of 1:1 if you bet 200 baht then you are going to get 200 baht in return. That’s why most people don’t like to play the player bet.
Bank bet:
The bank bet pays off at a ratio of 1:0.95 or 95% return ie if you have betted 100 baht then you would get and return of 195 baht.
Tie bet:
The Tie bet pays off at a ratio of 1:8 or 95% return i.e. if you have betted 100 baht then you would get and return of 800 baht.
Strategy to win
บาคาร่า is primarily a game of odds and is dependent on it but there is one strategy called the Martingale system that you can apply to win the game. The Martingale system is a simple system in which you lose bets until you eventually win the game.
For example: If you lose 100 baht in the first bet, then you again bet 100 baht in place second and so on until you finally win.
