How Baccart works

[vegas40]

Two hands are dealt, and the higher hand wins, you can bet on either hand to win.

One hand is called "Banker" and the other called "Player", but that is purely arbitrary, and you can bet on either hand. The "Banker" hand has nothing to do with the casino, and the "Player" hand has nothing to do with you.Might as well just call them hands Hand 1 and Hand 2.

Note that there is only one "Player" hand dealt no matter how many players there are, because the "Player" hand is not really the player's hand, it is just one of the choices you can bet on.

There is no such thing as busting in Baccarat. Only the last digit of the total is counted. For example, 9+5 is really 4 (not 14). And 6+5 is 1 (not 11).

[VegasLuvsMe]

I'm going to have to try playing baccarat at a casino some day.

I'm pretty sure the best hands you can bet on are between 7 to 9 or 17 to 19 if you plan on winning your bets.

The player has the option to draw a card if his/her score is from 0 to 5 or 10 to 15 total score.

The banker will play the same way, with a few game rule exceptions, this from Wikipedia...

Player's rule:
If the Player has an initial total of 0-5, he draws a third card. If the Player has an initial total of 6 or 7, he stands.

Banker's rule:
If the Player stood pat (i.e., has only two cards), the Banker regards only his own hand and acts according to the same rule as the Player. That means the Banker draws a third card if he has 0–5 and stands if he has 6 or 7.

If the Player drew a third card, the Banker acts according to the following more complex rules:
If the Player drew a 2 or 3, the Banker draws if he has 0–4, and stands if he has 5–7.
If the Player drew a 4 or 5, the Banker draws if he has 0–5, and stands if he has 6–7.
If the Player drew a 6 or 7, the Banker draws if he has 0–6, and stands if he has 7.
If the Player drew an 8, the Banker draws if he has 0–2, and stands if he has 3–7.
If the Player drew an ace, 9, 10, or face-card, the Banker draws if he has 0–3, and stands if he has 4–7.

So it looks like the Player has it easy since the Banker has so many rules to follow, when the Player draws a third card; which is unusual in baccarat.