Baccarat: Take a break from Texas Hold'em.

I have yet to see some articles on Baccarat, and I am not sure if it is because people don't like the game, or don't know how to play. Well, baccarat is actually a very fun game, and is great if you want to take a break from Hold’em, Omaha, stud or Razz. It is a little bit tough to get the hang of and understand the rules at first, but you once you learn you won't regret it! Here are the basics:

There are 3 dealers, 6 or 8 decks, and there are only 2 ways you can bet, and they are called "banker" or "player". There are 2 hands that are dealt, and which ever one you think will win, you bet on that hand, either betting banker or player. You bet before the cards are dealt, and bet on you winning, the house winning, or it being a tie, ties usually paying out 8:1. So there really is not a whole lot of skill involved. The best hand, is the hand with the greatest value, and is calculated by adding up all your cards. 10, jack, queen, and kings, are all counted as 0, cards 2 through 9 are worth their individual amount ( a 3 would give you 3 points), and lastly , aces are worth 1. The highest you can go is a 9, but here is the tricky part. Say you get deal an 8 and a 7. This would give you 15, more than the maximum allowed, so you would simply minus 10, which would make your total 5. If you receive 6 or more, you stay, and if you receive 5 or less, you would draw another card. Now, the betting is amazingly easy. Betting on either the banker or player will get you 1:1, and betting on a tie will get you 8:1!

Now this is just a simple outline and introduction to playing Baccarat. For more detailed information there are ton of casino sites online, and its like anything, practice makes perfect! Once you get the hang of it, you will develop a better feel for it and develop strategies to your betting. However, it would be near impossible to list all the strategies, much similar to Texas Hold’em. Baccarat is a great game to play when: