Just as in a real bricks and mortar casino, online casinos offer a huge range of games of which some are more popular than others. One game that is less popular that many others is Baccarat.

To some extent this is surprising as the game offers an enormous amount of entertainment and we suspect that its lack of popularity is due to the fact that the game relatively unknown, so we shall attempt to explain some of its features. Certainly the game was popular with James Bond where he was depicted playing it in the original Casino Royale, Dr No, Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Golden Eye, and For Your Eyes Only

Firstly we will deal with the scoring, as this is different from that of other card games.

oCards 2 through 9 count as their numerical value
oAces are worth 1
o10, J, Q, K are worth zero
oOnly the final digit counts in assessing the value of a hand
oFor instance a hand containing 2, 9, K = 2 + 9 + 0 = 11, but only taking the last digit gives a hand value of 1.

Initially the house and the player are dealt two cards face down. If either of these hands total 8 or 9 it is termed a natural and both hands are revealed. If they have equal score, it is a tie otherwise the highest score wins.

In all other situations an additional card is draw as determined by the following rules.

If the player has a score of 0 to 5 then he must draw a face up card. If the player did not draw a card and the banker has a score of 0 to 5, then the banker draws a card. If the player drew a 2 or 3 and the banker has 0 to 4 then banker draws a card. Similarly, if the player draws 4 or 5 and the banker has a score of 5 or under 6 then the banker draws, if the player draws 6 or 7 and the banker has a score under 7 the banker draws, If the player draws an 8 the banker draws with a score of 0 to 2. Finally, if the player draws A, 9, 10, J, Q or K, the banker draws with a score of 0 to 3.

Bets are placed on which hand will win at evens less commission or on a tie which pays out at 8 to 1.

Baccarat as played by James Bond at live casinos is often for very high stakes, however online the stakes can be very modest if you wish. The maximum bet is imposed by the house.

By Joe Field
Casinos have appeared in a number of great movies. This has also helped to attract people to visit casinos to enjoy games. Now many people also play casino games online.