Guide to play Baccarat Punto Banco at Mobile Casinos
Baccarat, or Punto banco as it is also called, is a gambling game that usually is found in all online casinos. Baccarat is an exciting and fun card game that is very easy to learn. It is also a mythical game where the stakes are usually a bit higher, and with a somewhat more luxurious style than other casino games. In the first James Bond book written by Ian Fleming, Casino Royale, playing baccarat in is an important part of the plot. In the movie Casino Royale from 2006, the main characters played poker instead of baccarat. Baccarat Punto Banco is closely related to Chemin De Fer, also called French baccarat.
Online casinos offering Baccarat Punto Banco
Baccarat History
The term Baccarat comes from the Italian word baccara, which means “zero”. The game originated from Italy and was introduced in France in the 1400s under the name Chemin de Fer. The upper class in contemporary France quickly took to Baccarat, and thus it became a game for the upper class. The game was introduced in England shortly after, and it developed into what is now known as European Baccarat. Today people play three main variants of Baccarat: Chemin de fer, Baccarat banque and Punto Banco.
Baccarat Rules
Online Baccarat is played with 1, 6 or 8 standard decks of 52 cards, depending on the casino. The cards are shuffled between every round. You can place your bet on three alternatives: that the player (punto) or the bank (banco) will have the best hand, or that there will be a tie (egalité). The winning hand is the one that comes closest to 9. One hand consists of two or three cards. The hand value is calculated as follows: ten, jack, queen and king are worth 0, aces are worth 1, and the other number cards have their normal value. The colors are irrelevant. If the total sum is double digits, you have to remove the first digit so that the final sum will always be a single digit. For example, the sum of two nines will make an 8. When you win on punto or banco you receive twice the amount of your bet, i.e. the payout is 1:1. The payout for egalité is 8:1 or 9:1.
The dealer must always draw two cards for both Punto and Banco, and whether or not he draws another card depends on the following:
Card for punto if the sum for punto is between 0 and 5, and if banco does not have 8 or 9.
Short for Banco on:
* sum for banco is between 0 and 2, and if punto does not have 8 or 9.
*if the sum for banco is 3, a third card is drawn, but it stops at 2 cards if punto’s third card is 8.
* sum for banco is 4; draw card if punto’s third card is 2 to 7.
* banco sum is 5; draw card if punto’s third card is 4 to 7.
* banco sum is 6; draw card if punto’s third card is 6 to 7.
Both punto and banco stop if they have 8 or 9, since the objective of the game is to get as close to 9 as possible. If punto and banco received 8-9 in the first two cards this is called a natural punto / banco.
Except for when there is a tie, Baccarat is one of the casino games where the casino has the least mathematical advantage, around 1.06%. This means that Baccarat Punto Banco is a very interesting game for players looking for good odds. Players who enjoy playing poker games such as Let It Ride Poker and Pai Gow Poker usually like Baccarat as well. To learn how to play Baccarat, we suggest a free games-casino which you can find under the top 5 casino list.