The Rules of Baccarat It is believed that the game of Baccarat originated in Italy, around 1490. The word baccarat is derived from the Italian word "baccara", meaning zero, and refers to the zero value given to all of the face cards and tens. Eventually Baccarat evolved into European Baccarat and the French game Chemin de Fer (French for "railroad" - probably depicting the shoe as a train traveling around the table). By mid-century Baccarat had become the game of choice for the French nobility, and is currently among the most popular casino games. Contrary to its appearance, Baccarat is one of the simplest games to play. The version of baccarat that is played today came from the Capri Casino in Havana, Cuba. The player makes only two decisions, before each hand is dealt - selection of the position he/she believes will win the next hand ("player", "banker" or "tie"), and determining the amount of the wager. The object of Baccarat is to wager on the hand that will with a point total of 9, or as close to it as possible. Cards from 2-9 are counted at their face value, aces are worth 1, and picture cards and tens are counted as 0 (suits do not matter). The player has no decisions to make during the game itself. Our Baccarat game is played with 6 decks of cards, which are shuffled after each round. Playing the Game of Baccarat Each round begins when the player bets on the 'player', 'banker' or a 'tie'. After the player's bet is placed, the player and the dealer (banker) receive each two cards. The score of each hand appears to the left of the cards. For example: If the player's two cards are '4' and '9', then their total is 13, and the score (that appears to the left of the player's cards) is '3'. The score always ranges from 0 to 9. A third card may or may not be dealt to the player, dealer or both. Note: If either the player or the banker has a score of 8 or a 9 they both stand (this is called a 'natural'). Third Card Rules Player's Hand Player's Actions Player's Two-Card Score Player's Action 0-1-2-3-4-5 Draw, unless Banker has a 'Natural' 6-7-8-9 Stand Banker's Hand Player Draws Third Card Score of Banker's Two Cards Draw when Player's Third Card is: Stand when Player's Third Card is: 0-1-2 Draw always, unless Player has a 'Natural' Draw always, unless Player has a 'Natural' 3 0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-9 8 4 2-3-4-5-6-7 0-1-8-9 5 4-5-6-7 0-1-2-3-8-9 6 6-7 0-1-2-3-4-5-8-9 7 Stand always Stand always 8-9 Player and Banker stand Player and Banker stand Player Doesn't Draw Third Card (Player Stands) Score of Banker's Two Cards Banker's Action 0-1-2-3-4-5 Draw, unless Player has a 'Natural' 6-7-8-9 Stand The scores of the player and dealer are compared, and the winner is the one with the highest score. Winning bets on the player pay 1 to 1, winning bets on the banker pay 19 to 20 (even money less a 5% commission) and winning bets on a tie pay 9 to 1. Note: In case of a 'tie', all bets placed on 'player' or 'banker' are returned to the player. Gameplay Table Limits Table Type Minimum Bet Maximum Bet I $2 $20 II $5 $50 III $25 $250 General Text Boxes Message - This indicates whether 'You are the Player' or whether 'You are the Dealer'. Opponent - This tells you the name (or nickname) of your current opponent. Last Round - This tells you how much you've won or lost in the previous round. Credit Points - This is your current Credit Points balance. As Player, you accumulate 1 Credit Point on every dollar you place as a bet. As Dealer, 1 Credit Point is deducted for every 1 dollar bet against you (see example below). Fun Balance / Balance - This is your current Fun / Real-Money Balance (in US dollars). Commission - When playing as Dealer, you pay a commission of 1.5% on the total bets placed against you (when playing as Player you do not pay commissions). General Options Timer - This is the circle at bottom-right corner of the screen. On every round, you have 45 seconds to make your decisions. The Timer indicates how much time you have left before reaching 45 seconds. If after 45 seconds you haven't finished your decisions, you will exit the table. Back - Pressing 'Back' returns you to the Options Screen. '?' (Help) - Pressing 'Help' opens the Help screen relevant to the room you're currently in. In this case, Baccarat. '$' (Cashier) - Pressing '$' opens the Cashier screen. Timer - This is the circle at the bottom-right corner of the screen. On every round, you have 45 seconds to make your decisions when playing as Player, and 35 seconds to make your decisions when playing as Dealer. The Timer indicates how much time you have left before reaching the time limit. If you haven't finished making your decisions during the specified time limit, you will exit the table. Playing as Player Search Casino lets you play either as Player or as Dealer. Playing as Dealer is optional and is not mandatory. If you do not wish to play as Dealer, you can play the traditional role of the Player, knowing you can rely on the fairness and credibility of Search Casino. Baccarat Text Boxes Card Labels - These labels appear to the left of the playing cards and inform you what is the current sum of the cards. Bet Labels - These labels appear to the left of your bet and inform you how much money you have placed on the table. Won / Lost Labels - These labels appear above the cards and indicate whether you have won or lost. Game Options 'Tie', 'Banker', 'Player' Click on the position you believe will win the next hand - "Player", "Banker" or "Tie". Game Chips: $1, $5, $25 and $100 With the Game Chips you make your bet on the table by creating a "Chip Tower". You may remove chips from the Chip Tower by clicking on the left mouse button while placing the cursor on the Chip Tower. Deal Once you've placed your bets on the table press 'Deal' to deal the cards. Disconnections Communication problems over the Internet may cause sudden disconnections. We have designed our software to cope with such incidents in a manner that our clients will be protected from unjustifiable loss, while eliminating the possibility of intentional disconnections and/or system abuse. Should a disconnection or timeout occur after the Player placed his/her bet and before the Player pressed the 'Deal' button, the Player's bet will be returned to his/her Balance. Should a disconnection or timeout occur after the Player pressed the 'Deal' button, the round will continue until the end of the current playing round. This has no effect on the Player, since the Player makes no decisions after the cards are dealt. Playing as Dealer Search Casino offers you the unique option of playing the role of the Dealer. This option increases your chances of winning, since you gain some of the favorable odds reserved for the casino. At the end of every round the casino takes a commission of 1.5% of the total bets bet against the Dealer. Example A Dealer chooses to play in Table II. This means that the Dealer meets the minimum requirements for playing in this table type: a minimum of 50 Credit Points and a minimum balance of $500. The system then matches a Player to the Dealer and after the Dealer 'Approves' the next round, the Player places his/her bets on the table. Notice that the view of the table has changed to that of the Dealer's. Let's say the Player places $10 on 'Banker'. The Player's first two cards are '10','3', and the Dealer's first two cards are '10,'K'. According to the rules of Baccarat, the Player draws a third card and receives a '10'. Therefore, the Dealer must draw a third card and receives a 'Q'. The Player's score is '3' and the Banker's score is '0'. The Player loses his/her bet and since the bet against the Dealer was $10 the casino takes a commission of 1.5%*10 = $0.15, which means the Dealer wins 10-0.15 = $9.85 on this round. Minimum Credit Points and Balance You can play as Dealer once you have accumulated enough Credit Points and in addition you need to have enough money in your Balance, according to the game's limits described in the Game Options page. The Minimum Balance required is a bit higher than the total winnings of the Player in a given round, which are: 9 * (Maximum Bet) + 1.5%(Casino commission) * (Maximum Bet) Game Options "Approve" Button / 'Auto-Approve' Feature When playing as Dealer, before each round commences you must 'Approve' the next round. After you approve the round, the Player can place his/her bets and play the round. The 'Auto-Approve' feature lets you automatically approve the next rounds, without having to approve every round individually. Disconnections Communication problems over the Internet may cause sudden disconnections. We have designed our software to cope with such incidents in a manner that our clients will be protected from unjustifiable loss, while eliminating the possibility of intentional disconnections and/or system abuse. Should a disconnection occur after the Dealer pressed the "Approve" button, play will continue until the Player has finished his turn. This has no effect on the Dealer, since the Dealer is played automatically according to the rules of the game. After connection is re-established the Dealer can enter the "History" page and see the results of the last round ("History" is available for Money mode only). I love the possibility to be the dealer. And it pays grand! J. Becetts, Boston