Banque Baccarat – Rules Strategy & Tips

How to Play Banque Baccarat

Banque is one of the many variations of Baccarat across casinos both online and offline. This version is favored by many high rollers as the player with the highest bet at the table gets to play as the banker and has the potential to win – and lose – more money than by being a player.

One of the main differences between Baccarat Banque and other variations is that it is played with just 3 shoes – decks of cards – as opposed to 6 or 8 used in many other forms.

Baccarat Banque is played on a table that can seat up to 14 players, 7 on either side of the banker position as shown below.

Banque Baccarat Rules

Players place their bets at the start of a shoe, the player who bets the most becomes the banker and takes a seat opposite the dealer.

The banker gets to remain as the banker for the entire shoe or when they run out of funds, at which point it is opened up for auction again from the remaining players. The banker can be challenged by another player at any time, this player will have up to 3 chances to displace him or her in the banker position, more of that later.

The table is separated into very distinct sections and one hand is dealt for each side along with one hand for the banker. As in other forms of Baccarat, the player’s hand is competing directly against the bankers as opposed to the other players, so the banker can win against both players, one player can beat the banker whilst the banker beats the other players, or both players can bet the banker.

The banker needs to put up enough money to cover all player bets for the hand. When bets are placed, from the right of the dealer all the way around the table, bets continue to be placed by players until the amount guaranteed by the banker has been reached. If these bets exceed the bankers total, the banker can either raise the amount they are willing to risk or the bets finish and the cards are dealt.

At any time at the betting stage, a player can challenge the banker by placing a bet or bets equal to that of the banker. This can be in one bet or across both player hands.

If they do this, they need to be successful on at least 1 hand, they can then assume the role of the banker for the remaining cards that are left in the shoe. If the banker wins then he or she continues as the banker. A player can challenge up to 3 hands in a row, each time matching the bet of the banker, if they are unsuccessful all 3 times they can no longer challenge the banker for the remainder of the shoe.

All cards are dealt face down and the player on each side of the table that placed the highest bet is in control of the hand for that side of the table. Players are betting on the hand on a particular side of the table beating the banker’s hand, they can bet on both player hands if they want but not on the banker’s hand, this is just for the banker to bet on themselves.

Once cards are dealt face down, the player in charge and banker all check their hands. If any of them have a total of 8 or 9 – or 18 or 19 as only the last digit counts when checking scores in Baccarat = they must immediately show their hand and their final score is confirmed.

If it is a player hand that has this score, they will beat the banker as long as the banker doesn’t have an 8 or 9 themselves – and the banker will continue to play against the other player. If the banker has an 8 or 9 and no players do, the hand finishes then and the banker wins both.

If no player or the banker has an 8 or 9, it is up to the player in charge whether to take the 3rd card or not. This is similar to Chemin de Fer in that the player has the choice, we would recommend playing by the same rules as Chemin de Fer though when it comes to drawing a 3rd card which can be found below.

 
As you can see, it is normally only when the player has a 5 that they have a decision to make, the player can deviate from this though if they wish. Any 3rd card is dealt face up so the banker can see what has been dealt to them.

Once the players have finished their actions, the banker can decide whether or not they take a 3rd card. Again, there are rules that are normally followed as shown below:

 
However, it is worth noting that as there are 2 player hands, there could be 2 totally different card dealt to each of the players.
The banker can only have 1 hand to play against both players and may, therefore, decide to play according to the rules for the player hand with the highest stake or differ to the rules above, this is down to the banker and they have the right to do what they see fit with regards to drawing a 3rd card.

Once all hands have been completed, cards are turned over. The highest hand wins even money if the player wins and even money for the banker if their hand wins less 5% commission for the casino. If either hand is a tie, the funds stay on the table and are paid out the next hand depending on which hand wins – there is no tie to bet on in Baccarat Banque.

The banker will remain in position if they wish for the duration of the shoe or until they are successfully challenged, they can give up this position after any hand though and the player with the highest bet next hand takes that position for the remainder of the shoe.

Banque Baccarat Strategy

Baccarat Banque strategy follows the same as most forms of the game. The player should hit on a total of 0 to 4 and stand on 6 or 7. As they are forced to stand on 8 and 9 anyway, it is really only a total of 5 that gives them a choice.

If the player stands, the banker should hit on a total of 0 to 5 and stand on 7. If the player hit, the banker should look at the table below when determining whether to take a 3rd card:

Player

 
The only situations that depend on what the layer did are:

• Player has a total of 5

• Banker has 6 and player stood

• Banker has 5 and player hit and got 4

• Bank has 3 and player hit and got 9

In these situations, the banker should generally mimic the player and stand when they stand, hit when they hit. From a player perspective, they should mix up when they stand or hit on a 5 to confuse the banker and give them the best possible chance of winning the hand.

Banque Baccarat Tips

• Ensure you check the odds of each version you play, some casinos will offer different odds so choose the type of bet you want and look for the casino that offers the best odds on this bet

• Quit when you are ahead – With any casino game it is good when you go on a winning streak, however, this can easily change in the blink of an eye so have a target before you start playing and ensure you walk away if you reach it

• Play short sessions – The casino has the edge over the player on all games therefore by the law of averages, the longer you play for, the more likely it is that the casino will win Instead of playing for hours, try shorter sessions where you stand a better chance of finishing ahead

• Manage your bankroll – Decide before you sit down how much you wish to play with and break this down into 40/50 bets This ensures you will have a fair amount of time to play and that you won’t lose more than you can afford

• Don’t chase losses – If you are unfortunate enough to lose the bankroll that you took to the table, walk away and accept those losses, don’t be tempted to deposit further funds that you can’t afford in order to try and win back some of the losses, it is unlikely to end well

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