STREETWISE BLACKJACK

Streetwise Blackjack

Alternative Lifestyles, Part III

By Peter Ruchman

In my continuing efforts to provide insight into a more diverse winning casino universe, exploring the unknown for blackjack players unaware of the possibilities, I turn this week to baccarat (pronounced "baahk-ah-rah). It has certain similarities to blackjack but major differences. It is the shape and scope of these differences that make the game worth examining.

If we agree that there are only a few games of chance in a casino worth considering for the value offered, baccarat surely must be listed among the big three, with blackjack and craps the two others when discussing table games (others worthy of consideration are video poker and sports betting, along with poker). Even within these games, there are definite plays that stand out as better, strategy-wise for the player. In craps, the "Big 6" and "Big 8" bets are among the most foolhardy on the layout at a 9.09 percent "House" advantage, yet a "pass" or "don't pass" player who takes full odds is surrendering a House edge of about 1 percent‹a significant difference!

In the Blackjack world, even if you didn't know how to count cards and had no desire to learn, you certainly wouldn't be taking advantage of golden opportunities if you didn't pay attention to any situation when there were a greater amount of higher value cards, nines, tens, and aces remaining to be dealt. Here it is a matter of using your powers of observation to a point rather than repeating the act of throwing chips out onto a table like a first-time fisherman casting his bait, knee-deep in a river.

In a similar sense, the game of baccarat provides advantages and mine-traps to attentive players. Just as in craps and blackjack, it takes experience and study to understand the inner workings of the game then translate those understandings into action. Rather than explain every nuance, I'll try to simplify the game for novices. The name of the game means "nothing." That's right‹baccarat is Italian for zero. It is thought to have its roots in a ancient Persian game with the highest stakes -- life itself.

Those frisky Persians played for keeps. There were nine stations in place around a goddess in their temple, and a pair of dice were rolled by young women as a rite of passage. Catch an eight or nine, you hit the jackpot and were ushered into the chamber reserved for those chosen as elite representatives of the goddess. Roll a seven and you served these special women. A six consigned the victim to menial tasks but a five or less was a sign of unworthiness and you were cast out to sea to meet your fate.

Things have improved for the baccarat player in modern times. I have yet to see an executioner at any of the local casinos offering the game, nor have I seen nubile young women wandering the halls worshipping goddesses (not counting the cocktail waitresses). But the object remains the same‹nine and eight are winning hands, with seven the next best thing.

The game is played with a six or eight-deck shoe. Some casinos use fresh cards for every new round, dumping the used cards, while others re-use the cards. The typical baccarat eight-deck shoe is good for about 80 hands before that round is over. There are only three possible bets called player, banker and tie. The tie bet is the worst on the table. as it only occurs every 12-hands on average. The payoff is generally around 8-1, sometimes expressed as 9-for-1, the same thing, but is usually a waste of money.

In baccarat, discounting the tie bet, there are only two choices: how much to bet and which side, player or banker? That is all there is to it. Once those two choices have been determined, there is nothing else to do but wait for the outcome‹no hitting, standing, splitting, nor doubling. The rules of the game are rigidly fixed. The game works like this: a card for the player is drawn from the shoe, face down, then one for the banker. This procedure is repeated, and the player's two cards are opened or uncovered first, either by the dealer or the person with the largest bet on the player's side. Once a two-card total has been determined, the banker's cards are handled in the same manner. The two sides, player and banker are compared and if a total of 7,8, or 9 is not present, then a third card is drawn, sometimes for one side, sometimes for each. We'll look at that area shortly.

In the Americanized version, there are three types of tables‹min-baccarat, midi-baccarat, and the classic full-sized table. The rules are the same for each layout with the major difference being the manner in which the cards are distributed. In the full-size, "big-bac" game, the customary eight-deck shoe is passed around the table with each player taking a turn dealing as an option. At the midi-bac table, only the dealer pulls the cards and then offers them to the highest bettor on each side to see first. Once the player has "opened" the hand, the cards are returned to the dealer who displays them for the entire table. In "mini-bac," the dealer pulls the cards and opens the players hand followed by the bankers hand, pulling third cards as required.

To figure totals, any ten-value card is automatically counted as zero, thus a king and a three equals three, rather than thirteen For all other hands, whenever a total above nine is reached, the "tens" digit is automatically dropped. In baccarat, a seven and eight equal five instead of fifteen. Once the cards for player and banker are revealed, if one side has a total of 8 or 9, it is called a "natural" and the players who bet on the winning side are rewarded with the same amount of money placed inside the betting circles in front of each spot. The losers have their money swept away, and a new round of betting begins.

If the player's total is 5 or less then the player hits, otherwise the player stands. If the player stands, then the banker hits on a total of 5 or less. Winning bets on the banker pay 19 to 20 (or even money less a customary 5 percent commission); winning bets on the player pay 1 to 1. There are very specific "third-card" hitting and standing rules and I'd advise a strong familiarity with them. They can be in Byron Hebert's excellent Power Baccarat 2 or David Vernon's Baccarat Made Simple, both available at Gambler's Book Shop in Las Vegas or online (www.gamblersbook.com).

Once you have an understanding of this relatively simple game, you can appreciate some of strategies and finer points. Many noted mathematicians in the gambling world (ex. Edward Thorp, Julian Braun, Peter Griffin) have all observed that there is no benefit derived from counting cards in baccarat. Instead, the game's design and beauty lends itself to patterns and streaks. There are obvious patterns that one will encounter over and over. The best of all worlds is a streak on the player's side. In this case, there is no commission charged on winning bets and astute players use these opportunities to make money.

For blackjack players looking for an alternative from the cat-and-mouse tactics necessary for survival in the modern casino shark tank, this game can offer some rewards. Realizing that you cannot achieve a positive expectation in the same manner as card counting in blackjack, turning a House edge into one on the player's side, I would ask how many of you out there REALLY count cards? I would submit from the evidence, not as many as one might think at first. What evidence you might ask? How about 30 years of hanging around gambling establishments watching the astounding gross amount of poor play.

The simple joys of baccarat mean that you can drop the subterfuge, enjoy yourself without any great mental duress, and you don't even have to bet every hand. You sit out as much as you like, waiting for a hand you perceive to be opportune. You can also vary your spreads as much as you'd like without a word from anyone. Not only that, but you get to track all of the plays using any number of prepared forms the casino has ready for you.

Due to the third-card hitting and standing rules, the banker side wins 50.68 percent of the time compared to the player's 49.32 percent. This differential accounts for the reason a commission of 5 percent is charged to winning banker hands. The house edge on bank is figured at 1.17 percent and player at 1.36 percent. I understand that these are more than double the generally accepted figure of .05 percent for a blackjack player employing perfect basic strategy. Once again, I submit that there are very few of you out there who play PERFECT basic strategy, bring the House edge to one that is a lot closer in reality to the figures for baccarat. And in this game you don't have to worry about screwing up someone else's hand‹you can't. There is no basic strategy to memorize, nor difficult hands or decisions to puzzle over‹just two things to decide: how much and which side?

There is a reason most of the world's biggest fish‹the whales‹as they are called, choose to play this game above all others, for the highest stakes imaginable. Not all money is smart, but I like to believe that more than a few of these folks possess a greater-than superficial understanding of casino activities and probability. And no, you don't need to count yourself amongst the elite in order to play. As more and more people play baccart, the sight of a mini-bac game on a casino floor is becoming more prevalent than ever before. All the snide remarks about James Bond and upper-class are becoming less common as more people understand that there are $5 and $10 games, just like blackjack. And just like blackjack, you can have fun and win.