While most of our readers ask about poker, a few folks have asked recently about baccarat, which is available at any number of casinos and card rooms in the Bay Area including Bay 101 in San Jose, Cache Creek in Brooks (Yolo County) and Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln (Placer County). Baccarat is a simple game of chance in which players bet on whether the player hand, banker hand or tie will win. Two cards are dealt for each hand and whoever has the final value closest to nine wins. The tens digit is dropped, so a seven and a six will result in a score of 13 but the first digit is dropped.

A player can bet on either the player or banker hand, but the game is more lucrative for those betting on the banker hand because a small commission (usually about 5-10%) is paid to the casino if you win. The dealer also collects lost bets and pays winning ones, so it isn’t unusual to see some players playing both sides of the table, placing a bet on the banker hand and a bet on the player’s hand in order to maximize their potential for a win.

The rules of the game are very straightforward and the rules for when a third card is drawn are well established. However, a third card can only be drawn on the Player’s Hand or the Banker’s Hand if the total of the first two cards is 8 or 9. This is called a “natural” and whichever hand has a natural will win.

In the past, it was common to have two different dealers and bet against other players as well as the house. Nowadays there is one dealer and bets are placed against the house, which acts as both a banker and a player. In addition, most games are played with pre-shuffled decks of cards, which reduce the time it takes to inspect and shuffle new decks before they can be introduced to the game.

In addition to the pre-shuffled cards, some casinos use a special deck of baccarat cards that have been marked with a symbol that can be identified by specialized computer software. These decks are a major help to baccarat players because they allow them to employ card counting techniques that can significantly lower the house edge of the game. This method can be used in conjunction with a technique known as edge sorting to give the player a significant advantage over the banker. However, this advantage is not permanent and the cards must be remarked regularly.