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Don't Monkey Around with Baccarat! |
The rules of playing baccarat did not change with the implementation of live dealers. The only difference between simple online baccarat with live dealer baccarat is that players can interact with both the dealer and their fellow players with the use of their webcams. They can watch the dealer shuffle and deal the cards, as well as talk with her and with their fellow players. With live dealer baccarat, the atmosphere of playing in a brick-and-mortar casino is recreated without the player having to rise from his computer.
In traditional baccarat, the dealer’s role is only to shuffle the cards and watch over the betting. The banker’s role is taken by a player, and the players take turns in being the banker. In live dealer baccarat, the dealer also steps into the shoes of the banker.
The point of baccarat is to get a hand with a total value of nine, or as close as nine as it can get. The picture cards – that is, the king, the queen and the jack cards – as well as the 10 card all get a value of 0. The rest of the cards are worth their face value while Ace is counted as having the value of 1. The values of the cards making up the hand are added; if the value of the hand exceeds nine, then the only the second digit is taken.
For example: if a player holds an Ace and a six, the value of his hand is seven. If he is holding a six and an eight, the total value of these two cards is 14. However, since this exceeds nine, only the second digit is taken, so the value of the hand is four.
So, the first thing that the dealer does is to take the bets. People who are not playing the game can wager on the player winning the game, on the banker winning the game, or on a tie. When the dealer says “No more bets,” the participants shall no longer be allowed to place wagers.
Afterwards, the dealer shuffles the cards and deals the participating players two cards each face up. The cards are distributed in such a manner that the players get the first and third cards while the banker/dealer gets the second and fourth cards. Most online casinos play live dealer baccarat using eight complete decks of cards though there are some that use only six decks, or even just one deck.
The values of the cards are then tallied. A player may draw a third card if the total value of his hand is five or less, or a ten. The banker only gets to draw a third card if the player chooses to get a third card or if her hand carries a certain value in relation to the player’s hand. As said above, whichever hand is closer to nine wins.
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