Live game technology is new but Baccarat is a card game that has been around for hundreds of years, there are three different variations of the game North American’s Punto Banco, Chemin De Fer, and Baccarat Banque. In Chemin De Fer and Baccarat Banque players can make choices so strategy and skill is vital in these versions of baccarat.

However it is Punto Banco which is played in most casinos and in the live games and is a game of chance involving little strategy or skill as the cards dealt determine the games outcome. Baccarat is a perfect game for beginners as no matter where or how much you play baccarat no amount of practice will increase your chances of winning as the game is all about luck and so beginners and professionals alike are on a level playing field.
Live baccarat generally has a low house edge and is relatively easy to play. Although there is a lot going on at the table, there is a croupier directing the game and two dealers who are in charge of collecting and paying out bets and keeping score of the houses commissions.

Baccarat games that follow the traditional rules, using 8 decks of cards and with the players dealing, are often called Big Baccarat. The game is often played by high rollers betting thousands of dollars and so the table is roped off in real casinos and is inaccessible to the majority of players. You would be wrong to assume that Baccarat is an elite game with high minimum bets as there is mini baccarat for the more modest player. In mini baccarat a dealer is used and uses 6 decks of cards. The house edge will change depending on how many decks of cards are used and players should check how many decks are being used at the live game they are involved in as it can dramatically affect the house edge.

The game of Baccarat can have three outcomes, the player wins, the banker wins or there is a tie. The terms do not refer to you the player or the house as the banker, they are simply places on the table where you lay your bet, almost like betting on black or red. In Live Baccarat the tie or stand-off is rarely used so there are just two bets that you need to be aware of Banco and Punto (bank and player)

Basically the aim of the game is correctly predict which of two hands of two cards will win or whether they will tie. The cards are dealt face down, one goes to the player spot and the other goes to the banker spot and then again so both spots have two cards. Players then place their bets on which they think will win and the cards are turned over. The hand that has the highest score will win. If a player has bet on the bankers spot and it wins it is standard that the house receives 5% commission. If there is a tie most casinos ties pay at 8 or 9:1

One of the most important things for new players to grasp is how baccarat hands and cards are scored, essentially anything over a ten has zero value, so nine is the highest card and aces are low or one. Your hand’s score is the sum of the two cards dealt to you (ignoring the ten digit) so a total of 15 would be 5 and 25 would also be 5.

Playing Baccarat at Live Dealer Casinos enable you to really feel like you are participating in a real game as the dealers and croupiers are there functioning and dealing in real time with real cards. This eliminates any apprehension players may have about the fairness of on-line casino’s random number generators (RGNs) and their automatic dealing. Players can finally join the ‘roped’ off table and experience big baccarat if they so wish, there are no waits for a table or game and no distracting crowds around the table. Although you can play anonymously from the privacy of your own home you can still chat to other players at the table and live game technology means you can also converse with the dealer. Live Baccarat means you can play a truly authentic game of Baccarat in a real casino any time night or day with no travelling, timing or fairness concerns.