Regardless of how many players are sitting at the table, only two hands are dealt: One hand for the banker and another for the player.

The objective in this game is to place a bet on the winning hand.

Hand Values

Card suits have no meaning in Baccarat.

Tens and face cards (jack, queen, and king) are worth zero. The ace is worth "1" and the Two through Nine are worth their face value.

1	Face Value	0

The total of the hand, regardless if it consists of two or three cards, is determined by adding up the values of the cards in the hand.

If the total of the hand is 10 or more, subtract 10. The remaining total is the card count. For example, if the first two cards dealt are Jack and 4, the count is four.

6, 2 and 6, which total 14, count as 4 after subtracting the 10.

7, 8 = 5	10, 6 = 6	Jack, 4 = 4

10, Jack = 0	9, Ace = 0	Jack, Ace = 1

10, 4, 2 = 6	6, 2, 6 = 4

Both the banker and the player are dealt two cards, and depending on the value of the hands, might be dealt a third card in either case according to the Baccarat drawing rules.

Psychology of Baccarat

Gambling without doubt can be addictive pursuit, and it is common knowledge that just as drug addict needs his fix, or an alcoholic needs his drink, so an addictive gambler needs to pursue his gambling urge, and is willing to steal to get the means to satisfy this urge. It has been proved that a very small % of gamblers come away winners, and most people claim, whether rightly or wrongly, that they play for the kicks.

Now if you are looking for kicks, then baccarat is your game. Baccarat takes you through the whole gamut of emotions, despair, hope, elation, anticipation, heartbreak and celebrations. When a player wins, his self esteem becomes buoyant, and he experiences a personality change . When he loses he is thrown into the depths of despair – but from despair to euphoria he is getting his kicks which gives zest to his boring daily grind. Thus the casino provides the outlet for those hooked or partially hooked on the gambling bug. Also those make believe fantasies can be realized by just being there.

1. Set up your bankroll somewhere between 20 and 50 units, each about $5 in value. Baccarat is often a high limit game and you may have to risk at least 20 units of up $25 each, meaning a $500 bankroll.

2. When you sit down at the table, ask for and get a score card. Record every result in a readable form using standard notations of P for player and B for bank.

3. Watch the play and when you feel confident start betting at units of say $25 a hand. Do this for the first 20 or 30 hands.

4. Watch how the game is played during these first 20 to 30 hands. Look for obvious trends in the game. Watch the dealing and the play. For example, see if the shoe is "choppy", with player and banker switching back and forth many hands in succession. See if there are short-term streaks like P, P, P, B, P, B, B, B.

Four Tips for the More Advanced Players:

Card Counting, a strategy which can be used to advantage when playing blackjack has always attracted attention among Baccarat players. Many players believe that is a possible method for winning at Baccarat as well. Here's how it works:

Much as in blackjack, in baccarat the removal of cards during play creates situations where there is a change in the chances of attaining particular cards or combinations of cards. The removal of certain cards in some cases favors the Player and at other times the Banker.

If you have developed a good count strategy you will be able to recognize situations that favor betting for the Banker and others that favor betting for the Player. A good card counter may improve his or her chances and win money at the game of baccarat by the method of shrewdly alternating bets along with the count.

An accepted rule of thumb says that the high cards favor the Banker while the lower cards favor the Player. Other cards have only a minor effect and are considered as being neutral. Card counters track the removal of such cards as the game progresses and then bet for the Player when there is a higher ratio of high cards remaining in the deck.

1. Baccarat players seek out trends. The rollers watch for these trends and then consider whether to continue or reverse direction. A gambler will begin to bet on a streak taking place if the last 30 odd hands have been unpredictable. In order to do this, he will simply continue betting according to whatever the last hand was. So if the Player won, he will bet for the Player, if it was the Banker who won, then he will bet for the Banker. He may start raising his bet in anticipation of a favorable streak.

On the other hand, if the gambler notices that the shoe was streaky during the first 30 hands, he might decide that these streaks will reverse and will bet accordingly. When you notice a turn, you need to determine in which direction it is heading. Then you have to consider betting with or against it? In the end, you have to remember that this is gambling and therefore there is no way to know for certain in which direction things will go.

2. If the shoe is streaky with both P and B participating on short-term streaks, play these streaks to continue with a paroli of three. This simply means parley your bet twice, going for a win of three hands in succession. You bet $25 and win. Let it ride and bet another $50. If it wins, let that ride again and bet the $100. If you sustain a loss or after winning three hands in a row, revert to a one-unit bet. To start you paroli of three, you could either bet whichever won on the last hand. So if P wins, start with P, or go the other way, meaning that if P wins, start with B. Be consistent.

3. If you are playing in a choppy shoe, you should bet that the winner of the last hand will not win three hands in a row. If the last hand was won by P then you should bet $25 on B. If P wins again and you lose, then you should bet $50 on B. But if P were to win again, you should go all out and bet $100 on B. If you succeed in winning any of these three hands you will have won $25. If you lose all three of the hands, then your loss is $175. This would be a good time to sit out for a few hands or wait for a new shoe.

4. There are those players who see the consecutive occurrence of P wining, say after 30 hands, and then again after another 20. At that time things will even out as B becomes dominant during the next 30 hands. Note that a shoe contains about 60 hands. In this approach, you should take a conservative approach and flat-bet the second half of the shoe on the side that is now due to come up to even things out.