Let's Play Card Games

Baccarat

There are three main variants of baccarat but they probably all derived from similar comparing card games like Macao and tujeon. The player’s hand is compared against the banker or house and a win, tie or loss can be declared. Cards from 2-9 are worth face value, 10s, jacks, queens and kings are worth zero, and the ace is worth one point. If a player’s score goes above 10, just the right-hand digit scores (so 13 becomes 3). The best possible hand is 9.

Punto banco is a game of chance in that the cards dealt dictate the player’s moves. It is played in the US, UK, Northern Europe and Macau. The casino is responsible for drawing the cards and playing the hands. Two cards are dealt face up to the player and the banker. If either achieves a total of 8 or 9, the coup is finished and the winner is declared. If neither has a total of 8 or 9, certain rules are applied as to whether a third card is dealt to each player. The rules slightly favour the house, so the banker generally wins this game of luck in the long run. Casinos in the US generally offer players a private room because huge amounts of money are wagered and these ‘high rollers’ value their privacy.

The original game was devised in France and called chemin de fer (this is the game usually played by James Bond in the early films). Six decks of cards are shuffled and one of the players acts as banker who also deals. The banker declares the amount they will risk on the following hand and the players decide whether to compete.

A Baccarat palette and cards

The banker then deals four cards face down, two for themselves and two for the highest individual wager of the other players. If the banker or player has an 8 or 9, they declare it immediately and the hands are revealed to be compared. If not, the player may decide whether or not to take an extra card, which must be dealt face up. If a player’s total is 0-4 inclusive, they generally take another card, and if it’s 6 or 7, they refuse. The banker can also decide to take another card, after which the hands are revealed and compared.

If the player’s hand exceeds the banker’s, each player who bet receives twice his or her original stake and the shoe with the cards passes to the next player. If the banker wins, the banker collects all the bets and then decides if they’d like to deal again. If there is a tie, the bets stay in play for the next hand.

Baccarat banque fixes the position of the dealer with the player willing to risk the largest amount. They then continue until they run out of funds of they reach the end of the three-deck shoe. The same basic rules as chemin de fer then apply.

Beggar-My-Neighbour

Beggar-my-neighbour is a simple card game that was probably invented in England in around 1860. It’s the only card game Pip knows how to play in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations . It was originally played by two people but more can join.

The pack is split equally but must remain face down. Each player in turn then reveals their top card. The cards from 2-10 have no value but the picture cards and aces are penalty cards. If one player reveals an ace, the next player must turn up to four cards over. If they have no value, the player who revealed the ace wins the cards and places them at the bottom of his or her deck.

The penalty cards in Beggar-my-neighbour

If one of them is another penalty card, play reverts to the person who laid the original card. The penalty for a jack is one card, two cards for a queen and three for a king. The only way to escape the penalty is to hope that one of the cards you reveal is another penalty card, which forces your opponent to reveal more cards. The person who acquires all the cards is the