Variations on Baccarat

Chemin de Fer

Chemin de fer is actually the precursor of baccarat and is played in a similar manner. However, it gives the dealer and players more discretion. The player to the left of the "croupier" is given the option to be the first banker. He puts up an amount he is willing to risk. The remaining players, beginning at his right, place bets against the amount. Anyone wishing to bet against the whole amount says "banco" and becomes the only player. If two people wish to cover the bank, then the player closest to the banker's left is given the honor. The banker always bets on the bank, and the players always bet on the player hand.

When the bets have all been placed the banker deals from a shuffled stack of six decks first to the players (also called punters) then alternately to himself, two cards each, face-down. This is very different from baccarat where the cards on mini-baccarat are dealt face-up. The player looks at his cards and if he has a 0-4 draws a card. On 6-9 he stands. If he has an 8 or 9, he immediately flips over his cards, they are compared with the dealer's hand and the closest hand to 9, calculated in the manner of baccarat, wins. (There may also be a push.) However, if he has a 5, he has the discretion on whether or not to take another card. The third card is dealt face-up, giving the dealer only limited information about the hand he faces. The banker, then, can do as he likes, draw or not, on whatever his hand may be.

The banker then exposes his hand as does the player. The winning players are paid by the banker. If the banker is the winner then he collects the bets, but these cannot be pocketed. They are added to the bank until the banker is willing to pass on the shoe to the next player on his left. The deal will also pass if the banker loses his hand.

Chemin de fer also sometimes called shemmy, played mainly in France, does give more scope to the players of the game, whether they are the banker or the "punters". The advantage still lies with the bank, but again, not by much. The casino will generally take a percentage commission from the banker's winnings.

Baccarat en Banque

Baccarat Banque is much like Chemin de Fer except there are two player hands, each played separately against the banker's hand. This complicates things slightly. The left hand is played by the player immediately to the banker's left and the right hand by the player immediately to the banker's left, and is only passed on to the next player in succession if the player or punter loses a hand. The selection of banker is initially done by auction and is held, win or lose, until three decks are used up in the dealing.

There are additional differences having to do with the next person who controls the bank and how much they must put into it. Like chemin de fer, baccarat banque allows more scope for players and bankers, but the additional hand may complicate matters unwarrantedly. Yet it does give the banker more to think about when deciding on whether to take an additional card. It is well to remember that casinos can create their own rules, so that the game will play differently in different places around the world.

Punto Banco

Americans originally found "punto banco" in Cuba before Fidel Castro overthrew the government. There it was played much like the modern version of baccarat.

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