Players sit around the table and the game is played anti-clockwise. One player is the banker and the next player is the challenger. The role of banker passes from one player to another upon losing the wager.
Aim
The aim is to reach 9, which is the highest possible hand value.
Points are calculated adding the card values together. When the sum is over ten, the rightmost number is the one that counts (e.g. if you have 12 from
adding 7 and 5, 2 is the points value) – the same figure may be arrived at by deducting ten (or multiples thereof) from the total obtained from adding up
all cards in the hand.
9 is the highest points value and 10 is the lowest, which is called “baccarat”.
The Deck
Baccarat - Chemin de Fer is played with 6 decks of 52 cards. After shuffling them, the croupier places them is a dispenser called a "sabot".
How to play
In turns starting from place number 1, each player has the right to hold the sabot and therefore be the banker. The banker controls the sabot and may
continue to hold it after every winning wager. The banker also has the right to withdraw, even after just one winning wager.
The banker distributes two cards to the next player and two cards to himself (dealing alternately) starting from the player. Both banker and player can make use of a third card, which added to the first two, gives the total points. To obtain the points total, 10 or multiples thereof will be subtracted from the sum of the cards.
A player with 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 points will always ask for a third card; with 5 points he is free to “stick” or “twist”; with 6 or 7 he will “stick”, and with 8 or 9 he must show his cards and the banker cannot take a third card.
The banker has to turn his cards over following the player’s decision and will decide his move accordingly.
The sum of money the banker wagers can be matched by one or more players. In the former case, precedence goes to the player on the immediate right of the banker. If both player and banker have equal points, the hand, called "egalité", is considered void.
