Baccarat en Banque – Guide on how to play the casino game
What’s difficult about baccarat variations is that they sometimes have a lot of names. Or, you’ll simply find variations named “Baccarat” in tutorials, which muddles things up.
Concerning baccarat en banque: you’ll rarely find this variation in land-based casinos, or online for that matter. Even if this is one of the oldest versions of baccarat, it’s oddly not very popular.
The first vital difference with standard baccarat is the playing table:
- The en banque playing table has a bit of a “double-headed axe” kind of shape, with each side seating 5 players.
- The croupier sits at the upper central curve and the banker sits at the lower central curve.
Let’s check out how the rules in baccarat en banque differ from regular baccarat.
Baccarat en Banque Gameplay
Unlike in variations like Super-Pan 9, players don’t take turns being the banker. It depends on the table you’re at, but some bankers can pay their way into the position at the beginning of the game.
The banker’s bet will influence everybody else’s wager. So if the banker has placed a bet of $800, the players’ total bets cannot exceed that bet. This also means that if two players bet $400, the other players can’t add any bets.
You’ll find that this is the main and most interesting difference between regular baccarat and en banque.
As players aren’t allowed to simply “take turns,” a player must earn the banker position. Anyone who wants to take the place of the banker will have to bet on the banker’s hand.
If the player wins their bet, then they can take the banker role. If, however, they lose the bet 3 times in a row, then they can’t be the banker.
Order of Play: A Step-by-Step Guide
- The croupier or dealer deals the cards: one hand per half of the table + one hand for himself.
- Players on each half of the table can only bet on the player hand, while the banker can bet on the banker hand.
- Player autonomy is also different between regular players and the banker. For instance, the banker decides by himself whether he wants to draw a third card.
- Players on the other hand, must automatically stand when the player hand’s card value is at 6-7pts. They must automatically take a hit if the card value is at 0-4pts.
- The only autonomy a player has is when the card value is at 5pts – then, the player can decide whether to stand or hit. Like in baccarat, players win if the hand they betted on reaches 8-9pts.