Casino Gambling Guide

36 Pages 9023 Words

the strict set of rules governing the draw of such extra cards. Consequently there is no possibility that a player in the position in front of you will receive the cards you would otherwise have received.

Chances are that if you sit down at a Baccarat table the game will be already in progress. Very rarely are Baccarat tables unoccupied. Many casinos in fact employ House players, called "shills", a couple of whom are often seated at the Baccarat table so that potential customers won't have to be the first to sit down or play alone.

The shills are paid employees of the casino, and they play with House money; they don't get to keep any winnings, but they don't lose either. Shills in Baccarat are just there to occupy seats. When a sufficient number of customers arrive, the House players leave, returning only if the table becomes empty again.

Unlike in Poker, Baccarat shills have no effect on your hands. If, however, you feel uncomfortable about knowing whether or not there are any shills at the table, just ask the casino pit boss if there are any at your table. By law, casinos must identify shills if asked.

Baccarat is played with eight standard decks of cards, no Jokers, all shuffled together. When the game is at the point of a new shuffle -- either at the very beginning of the game or when the cards dealt have reached the cut card, as in Blackjack -- one of the dealers will out "shuffle" and begin to shuffle the cards.
When the shuffle is completed, one of the customers will be asked to cut the deck and the cut decks will then be placed in the shoe, ready for dealing. At this point one of the dealers, usually the one who did the shuffle, will turn up the first card out. Whatever the value of this first card is, this indicates how many cards will be burned. If, for example, this first card out is 6, the dealer will burn six cards, none of which the players see, placing them in the discard tray along with that first card...