Baccarat: Best for Beginners  

Baccarat is one game that a beginner can play as good as one who's played the game for 20 years! The reason is simple. Unlike blackjack where you have to decide whether or not you want another card, you have no decisions to make here and no skill is involved. Baccarat is a quintessential guessing game.

Another good thing about Baccarat is that the casino advantage in the game is very low. Even after adjusting 5 % commission the casino advantage on the banker bet is 1.17%. It's high at 14.1% for the tie bet, which in any case is a terrible bet, which should never be made. If you bet on the player you'll only be giving the casino at 1.36% edge.

The game itself is very simple to play. The only decision you have to make is what bet you want to make from the three that are available: player, banker or tie. After the players make their bets the game begins and two 2-card hands are dealt from a shoe that contains 8 decks of cards. One hand is dealt for the banker and another hand is dealt for the player. The hands of the two cards in each hand are added together and the object of the game is to have a total as close to 9 as possible.

After the values of the first two cards in each hand are otaled, a third card can be drawn by either the player, the banker or both. But, the decision as to whether or not a third card should be drawn is decided by the rules of the game. There is no place for individual strategy here!

Now, there is something to know about totaling the cards. In Baccarat, all of the 10's and all of the face cards are counted as zeros, while all of the other cards from ace through 9 are counted at their face value. For example, a hand of Jack, 5 has a total of 5; 10, 6 has a total of 6; and queen, 7 has a total of 7; and ace, queen has only a total of 1.There is one more thing to remember here. No total in Baccarat can be higher than 9. So, if a total is 10 or higher you have to subtract 10 to determine its value. If the cards are 8,9, the total is 17 but you subtract 10 and your total is 7; and 5,5 has a total of 0.

The game starts now. After the first two cards are dealt if either the player or banker hand has a total of 9 then that's called a "natural" and that hand is the winner. If neither hand has a total of 9 then the next best possible hand is a total of 8 and that hand would be the winner. If both the player and the banker end of with the same total then it's a tie and neither hand wins.

  If neither hand has an 8 or a 9 then the rules of the game have to be consulted to decide whether or not a third card is drawn Once that's done, the values of the cards are added together again and whichever hand is closest to a total of 9 is the winner. If both hands end up with the same total then it's a tie and neither hand wins.

The game gets a little complicated here. The rules concerning the draw of a third card are elaborate but you can always go to them for reference. Go to Baccarat Rules at ClubChance for ready reference.We said that casino has a pretty low edge on Baccarat but the fact is in the long run the game of Baccarat is unbeatable.

The one saving grace is that you have the option of making two bets that require no skill. More pertinent point is the almost negligible edge to the house. It is an accepted fact that the best chance of winning is in playing games that have the lowest casino edge. From this point of view, Baccarat is certainly not a bad game to play for the recreational gambler. And an ideal game for the small stakes player because of its simplicity as well as the favorable odds.What are you waiting for? Look for a nice Baccarat table and indulge in your favorite guessing game!