Baccarat is also similar to craps because of the manner in which other players at the table place bets. Although you won't be playing with other players at an online casino baccarat table (nor will you be required to dress up to the T's), in a land-based casino you will choose to place a bet either on the Player or Banker (In craps, you must bet either with or against the shooter).

As mentioned, two cards are initially dealt to the Banker and Player. However, before this is done, you must bet on one of three outcomes - a Player win, Banker win, or, Tie. All cards are worth their numeric value, except tens and face cards, which are worth 0 (zero) and Aces, which are worth 1.

The value of the two cards are added up for each hand. If this value is under ten, that is the number for its score. If the value is over ten, the score is calculated by subtracting ten. In other words, baccarat hands will never have a score over nine. Nor can they bust. The hand that has the higher value (closest to nine), is the winning hand.

A winning bet on the Player hand will be paid 1 to 1, a Tie bet will pay 8 to 1 and a winning bet on the Banker hand will be paid even money minus a 5% commission.

There is no difference in odds between baccarat and mini-baccarat. The only difference is that mini-baccarat is a faster game because the dealer turns over all of the cards. Also you are likely to find lower stakes at mini-baccarat.

It's no surprise that Baccarat is a high rollers game. Because of its history, Baccarat is marketed by casinos as a game for the rich and classy. In other words, expect to pay higher table minimums. In terms of playing strategy, most players advise to simply stay away from making the Tie bet.

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