Baccarat is a card game similar to Blackjack. Although baccarat game may look different, a blackjack player should learn three basic differences between baccarat and blackjack to start playing baccarat: A perfect number is 9; Face cards are worth 0 points and an Ace is always 1; You can not bust in baccarat.

In fact, probably the main reason why baccarat is less popular than blackjack is the fact that the player does not make any decisions during the game there are rules that define everything, like those used by blackjack dealers in casinos. The only thing the player decides on is on what hand to bet (an option that does not exist in blackjack). Actually, players do not even have their own hands. Only two hands are dealt regardless of number of players at the table: The banker's hand and the player's hand. Players than bet on whether the dealer or the player (a virtual one) will win or there will be a tie.

As was said before, face cards from Jack to King have 0 points. Ace is worth 1 point and cards from 2 to 10 are assigned a number of points equal to their face-value. The critical number is 9, but a hand can not bust. If the value of the hand exceeds 9, 10 is subtracted, so 10 points are equal to 0, 11 to 1 and so on.

The maximum number of cards a baccarat hand can contain is 3. Two cards are dealt initially. If these two cards have 8 or 9 points, such hand is called a Natural and no further cards are dealt. If a hand has 5 points or less, it automatically stands, otherwise another card is drawn.

Bets on the banker's or the player's hand are paid even money, but when betting on the banker's hand and winning, the player must pay 5% vigorish. Betting on a tie is paid 8 to 1, but you should know that ties are very rare in baccarat, and after all it is not a good bet.

Baccarat is usually played with extremely high stakes (often 100 dollar and more). Baccarat tables in casinos are big and elaborated. They are located in an exclusive VIP area, have 5 dealers and are surrounded by maximum glamour. However, because of the growing popularity of baccarat, casinos decided to allow usual players to play the game too. For this reason a new game called mini-baccarat was invented. In fact, mini-baccarat is exactly the same game, the only difference is the arrangement. Mini-baccarat table is not larger than a normal blackjack table and is run by only one dealer. With there are fewer expenses from the part of the casino, the game can be played at much lower stakes. You can easily find 1 dollar or even lowed minimum bets at mini-baccarat tables at any casino.