Feral Worlds: Tabletop Games · Card Games · Classic rules
Baccarat
Back a hand. Closest to nine.
Setup
- Players: one to eight, all betting in turn.
- Chips: each player starts with 10,000 chips, in units of 100.
- Shoe: four decks, shuffled together.
- Length: the match is 50 coups. The first bettor moves one seat round the table each coup.
How to play
- 1Place your bet. In turn, bet on Player, Banker or the Tie, from one unit (100 chips) up to the table maximum of ten units.
- 2Two cards each. Two cards go to each hand. Aces count 1, two to nine count their number, and tens and picture cards count nothing. A hand is worth the last digit of its total.
- 3Naturals stand. If either hand has 8 or 9 at once, both stand and the coup is settled.
- 4Player draws first. Player takes a third card on 0 to 5 and stands on 6 or 7.
- 5Then Banker. Banker draws or stands by a fixed table that depends on its own total and on Player’s third card. You never choose.
- 6The nearer hand wins. The hand nearer to 9 wins and every bet is settled.
- 7Never touch the cards. You cannot change a draw or a hand. Only your bet is yours.
Winning
After the last coup, the player with the most chips wins; equal chips share the win. Playing alone, you win by finishing above your starting chips.
Scoring
| Result | What happens to the bet |
|---|---|
| A bet on Player, Player wins | Pays even money |
| A bet on Banker, Banker wins | Pays even money, less a 5 percent commission |
| A bet on the Tie, the hands tie | Pays 8 to 1 |
| A bet on Player or Banker, the hands tie | Handed back |
| A bet on the hand that loses | Lost |
| After the last coup | Most chips wins |
The shoe is reshuffled when fewer than 16 unplayed cards remain. The match ends after the set number of coups, or when nobody has chips for the minimum bet.
Key terms
- Coup:
- One round: bets, the deal, and settling.
- Shoe:
- The box of shuffled decks the cards are dealt from.
- Player:
- One of the two hands. It has nothing to do with who is playing.
- Banker:
- The other hand. It draws by a fixed table after Player.
- Tie:
- Both hands finish on the same total.
- Natural:
- A hand worth 8 or 9 on its first two cards. Both hands stand.
- Unit:
- The smallest bet: 100 chips.
- Commission:
- The 5 chips in 100 taken from a winning Banker bet.
- Push:
- A bet handed back, neither won nor lost.