An Overview of the Game of Baccarat
Lets start with a little history lesson;
Baccarat (pronounced Ba-ka-ra with short a's and a silent
t), meaning zero, was introduced into France during the reign of Charles VIII, about
1490 A.D. Baccarat was invented by a gambler called Felix Falguiere
in Italy. He based the game on the old Etruscan rituals of the nine
Gods. The Gods stood praying on their toes to a blonde virgin who
cast a nine-side die (novem dare) at their feet. If the
blonde virgin cast an eight or nine she was crowned a priestess, if she
cast a six or seven she was disqualified from religious office and her
vestal status was immediately changed. If she rolled a five or less
she walked gracefully into the sea.
Good thing for players is that they no longer have to
walk off into the sea if they cast five or less.
The glamorous game of Baccarat is aimed at high
rollers with its old world air of graciousness. Casinos that host
Baccarat tables have them located in small luxuriously roped off areas.
These games are played with special chips and the stakes are quite high,
bets can range from $20 minimums to maximum limits that casinos set for
the well heeled high rollers.
Baccarat Casino Crew
Each Baccarat table has two croupiers situated in the
center of the layout, both croupiers are responsible for selling chips,
collecting losing wagers and paying winners on their respective halves of
the table. In front of the croupiers are 14 printed boxes on the
layout which correspond with the players betting spots, these boxes are
used to keep track of commissions owed by the players.
On the opposite side of the dealers is another
croupier, called the "caller", who directs the game.
This croupier tells the player with the shoe when to deal and to who and
announces the winning hand. The caller removes the first card and
turns it face up after a shuffle to determine how many cards are to be
burned (face cards count as ten), the caller then places these cards in
the discard slot on the table. Cards from completed hands are also
collected and placed into the discard slot by the caller. This
process continues until the cut card appears and a new shuffle is
required.
Table Layout
Tables are kidney-shaped to allow dealers to reach out
and handle cards as well as the bets. The tables are about 12 feet
long and between 3-4 feet wide. The green baize covering has the
Baccarat layout stenciled on to it. This layout has a numbered
layout in front of each players chair where the player can either bet on
the banker or player hand. These places are numbered from one to
fifteen with the number thirteen omitted, as few play players would sit at
the traditionally unlucky number.
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