Baccarat

     

In the movies, James Bond, AKA 007, is sometimes seen playing Baccarat. Traditionally, baccarat has been a game with high stakes for well-to-do-shaken-not-stirred players. This is still true for big-bac, whereas mini-bac lowers the minimal bet and brings the game down to the level of Joe Blow, AKA 10W-30.

The difference between big-baccarat and mini-baccarat today is the size of the table, the lack of pomp and circumstance for mini, and, more importantly, the minimum bet at the tables. Minimum bets at mini-baccarat today are as low as $5, no where close the $10 grand bets made by Bond, James Bond. Furthermore, in big-baccarat the players take turns as the dealer, passing the shoe around the table. In mini-baccarat, all the dealing is done by the house. Otherwise, the games are the same.

Baccarat is a card game played with 6 or 8 decks and dealt from a shoe. The object of the game is to make a hand as close to 9 as possible. Unlike blackjack, where the player plays the hand the way he or she wants to, the way a hand of baccarat is played is governed by a set of rules. Basically, the only decisions made by the players is how much to bet, what hand to bet on, and what drinks to order from the bar.

There are three bets on the baccarat table: Banker, Player, Tie. All I will say about the tie bet is that it is a sucker bet paying 8:1 odds while allowing for a house edge of 14.35%. Figure 6.1 is my sad attempt at replicating a mini-baccarat table.

Figure 6.1