Ever wondered what goes on in the high stakes room at a casino? There is a good chance it is Baccarat, a game that is a favorite of high rollers and is extremely well-liked in Asia and Europe. The glamorous image of Baccarat has been advanced in popular culture, most notably through James Bond in stories like Casino Royale. That is, the original book version of Casino Royale, as Baccarat was switched for the trendy game of Texas Hold’em in the 2006 Casino Royale remake.

While you might not have tens of thousands of dollars to play high stakes Baccarat, online casinos have made the game available to many more people. If you are looking to start playing, this basic overview of the most popular version of Baccarat is a good place to begin.

Betting and the Basic Format of Baccarat

The game unfolds as a match between two hands, the “Banker” and the “Player” side of the game. These are only formal names, they do not mean that one hand is the House’s and the other is the Player’s. Players may bet on either the Banker side, Player side, or a tie before the hand begins. A winning bet on the Player pays even money, while a winning bet on the Banker pays even money less a 5% commission to the casino. A bet on a tie between the two sides pays a handsome 8 to 1 on the bet.

Each side is dealt two cards, which are added together. The winning hand is the one totaling closest to 9. All numbered cards are counted for their face value, but the tens digit is dropped. For example, a 4 and a 10 total 14, but they are counted as 4. Face cards count as ten, so they are essentially zeros, and aces count as 1. If either side totals an 8 or a 9 on the initial deal, then the hand is over, no more cards are dealt, and the side closest to 9 wins. If the totals are 0-7, then the drawing rules come into effect to see if either side gets to draw a third card.

The Drawing Rules of Baccarat

The drawing rules of Baccarat start by looking to the Player side first. If the Player side totals 0-5, the Player draws a third card. If the Player side has a 6 or 7, the Player stands. The Banker’s action is decided by whether the Player side drew a card and if so, the value of that third card.

If the Player did not draw a card, then the Banker draws if his cards total 0-5 and stands if they total 6 or 7. If the Player draws a 2 or 3, the Banker draws with 0-4 and stands with 5-7. When the Player draws a 4 or 5, the Banker draws if he has 0-5 and stands with a total of 6 or 7. If the Player draws a 6 or 7 then the Banker draws if he has 0-6 and stands only with a 7. If a Player draws an 8, the Banker draws only with 0-2 and stands on 3-7. When a Player draws an A, 9, 10, or face card, the Banker draws with 0-3 and stands with 4-7. At the end of drawing, the two or three cards are totaled and the side closest to 9 wins.

That is how to play Baccarat. The drawing rules can be tricky at first, but the Croupier, or person running the game announces the action so it is easy to follow along. Otherwise Baccarat is a simple game. That simplicity should help take away some of the mystery created by things like James Bond and Casino Royale. With so many new casinos now offering Baccarat online and off, there is nothing to stop you from playing.

Did Casino Royale Get It Wrong By Having Jame Bond 007 Play Texas Hold’em Instead of Baccarat?

Many fans of the recent James Bond film Casino Royale are unaware it was actually the third time the story has been told on screen. A 1954 episode of “Climax” featured CIA agent “Jimmy Bond,” and 1967’s Casino Royale was a parody of the English spy. The earlier versions were based on Ian Flemming’s first James Bond novel ever, and they both differed from the modern film in a major way. They featured Baccarat as the high-stakes card game at the casino, whereas the new film centered on Texas Hold’em Poker. It sparked a debate amongst fans, as some thought replacing Baccarat was too big of a change while others believed Texas Hold’em was a needed update.

Die-Hard Bond Fans Wanted Baccarat

James Bond purists say Baccarat is essential to the Casino Royale story and the James Bond character. From their perspective, a remake should aim for accuracy with elements as big as that. They say that the franchise should always satisfy the original, die-hard fans first, and try to please new audiences second.

Baccarat was not only part of this particular James Bond story. A large part of Bond’s identity in many of the original books and movies was that of an elite Baccarat expert. Besides Casino Royale, Baccarat appeared in Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, For Your Eyes Only, and GoldenEye, so there is a lot of character development attached to the game. That is what many fans think the filmmakers got wrong in the new movie.

The Case For Texas Hold’em

The other side of the coin is that Texas Hold’em is the world’s hottest card game. The obvious benefit of putting it in Casino Royale was from a business standpoint, because it appealed to the millions of Texas Hold’em fans playing today. Everyone and their dog is learning how to play Texas Hold’em. It is hard to argue with the box office success that Casino Royale enjoyed.

The inclusion of Texas Hold’em was a good plot choice as well, according to some fans. They say that it is more believable for a movie set in modern times to be featuring a modern game, especially for such high stakes. Many people also argue that Texas Hold’em involves more skill, so it is more realistic to bet such large sums of money on.

Whatever side you take, it is hard not to like Bond’s smooth approach during the casino scene. Both Baccarat and Hold’em require you to stay in control of your nerves, and the movie showed this. Every bet and raise captured the intensity of a good card game, and it left viewers ready to play a few rounds themselves.

For several years now, it has been getting harder and harder to go anywhere without hearing about Texas Hold’em poker. From ESPN coverage of the World Series of Poker to the James Bond film Casino Royale, this classic card game has been exploding in popularity. What makes Texas Hold’em so interesting is that, because of the face-up community cards that everyone can use to make a hand, players have a great deal of information about their opponents’ hands. This makes for a skilled game of playing the other players more than the cards themselves, as you might remember from the climax of Casino Royale.

How to Win a Hand: The Basics

Texas Hold’em can have a good deal of strategy, but it is an easy game to learn, especially if you are already familiar with 5 card poker hands. If you are not, they are, in order from weakest to strongest: one pair, two pair, three of a kind, straight or 5 cards in numerical order, flush or 5 of the same suit, full house or three of a kind with a pair, four of a kind, and straight flush or 5 of the same suit in numerical order.

You can win a hand in Texas Hold’em in two ways. One is to have the strongest hand when cards are shown at the end of all betting rounds. The other is to make all your opponents fold, or throw away their hands by not calling your bets.

Hole Cards and Pre-Flop Betting

Every Texas Hold’em hand starts with each player being dealt two face-down “hole” cards. The first two players to the left of the dealer button automatically post the “small blind” and “big blind” bets respectively, which are one half and the full minimum bet for the table.

The first player to the left of the big blind can decide to fold, call the minimum bet, or raise based on his hole cards, and this continues around the table, ending on the blinds who can check the minimum bets they have already posted or raise more based on their hole cards. The players who have called the minimum or any raise that was made before them get to stay in the hand, while anyone that folded is out.

The Flop and Community Cards in Texas Hold’em

Once the remaining players are in, the “flop” is dealt, or three face-up cards in the middle of the table that anyone can combine with their 2 hole cards to make a 5 card hand. The first to act after the flop is the person to the left of the dealer button, or the small blind, and he gets to check or bet. If he bets, then the next player clockwise can fold, call, or raise, and the betting continues around the table.

If there is more than one player who has not folded after this round of betting, the remaining players see a fourth face-up community card that they can use to make a hand. Another round of betting occurs on this card, and the remaining players get to see a final fifth community card, also known as the “river”. If there is still more than one player after the betting round on the river, the remaining players show their hole cards and the strongest hand takes the pot.

Those are the basics of how to play Texas Hold’em. To have success when you start out, stick to strong starting hands, like high pairs such as AA, KK, QQ, JJ, or high connected cards like AK, KQ, or AQ, especially if they are the same suit. Do not pay too much to chase a hand when you have four of the same suit or four in numerical order. As you get comfortable with the basics, start trying to get a feel for what your opponents are doing and how they play when they have certain hands. This is where the real fun of the game is, and as you play more and more, you will love this mental aspect of Texas Hold’em.

Casinos offer potential players bonuses to entice them to sign up and play poker at their casino poker table. This, in and of itself, should not be the reason that a poker player goes to play poker at a casino. The casino, and the people running the poker game, need to be professional and trustworthy.

That said, if you have a quality casino such as Doyle’s Room, why not take the extra 50%? I would. I will, as a matter of fact. This increases your odds and give you a larger stack for cash management. Doyle Brunson’s casino is offering a 50% bonus of up to $300 for new deposits if you use the promotion code Paddy50.

A second great offer at Brunson’s casino is their St. Patrick’s Day $50,000 Bounty Tournament this coming Wednesday, March 17th. Not only are there the $50,000 in bounty cash and cash bonuses at tables, all first time players receive a full buy-in rebate. Talk about receiving a lucky four-leaf clover on St. Patrick’s Day at Brunson’s casino.

I’ve always wondered about the placement of bounties on the heads of professional poker players. From a marketing perspective, its a great idea. People, and poker players in particular, tend to have big egos. Don’t get me wrong, a good poker player needs to be confident and believe in him or herself. But the idea of paying cold cash in order to go up against a top poker player for the sake of a $500 bounty? These professional poker players feed on fish like you for a living. Do you really think that you can go up against Alex Kamberis at Doyle’s Room?

So first, you have to look at the entry fee. What is it going to cost you to play poker against a professional poker player? And how many people are going to play? So what are the odds of him even being at your table so that you’ll have a chance to knock him out? Granted, it isn’t just Alex Kamberis, who was the 2008 Online Player of the Year, but you would also be going up against poker professionals Dani Stern and Zach Clark, each of whom have $500 bounties on their heads.

But wait. It isn’t only the professional pokers players with a bounty on their heads. You, and everyone else, also have $10 bounties on your heads. Now it is getting interesting.

My ego is big enough. I’ll see you at Doyle’s Room.

Without a doubt, among all kinds of card games played in casinos and online, poker is the most popular. One just has to look at the movies over the past decade, including Casino Royale to understand poker’s popularity. In fact, because of its popularity, many poker players have already developed the great knack and intuition to excel in poker. However, this does not apply to all. There are still some who shed out dollars just to practice and excel in this great game. They still need to learn a lot of strategies and tactics to really make the most out of their game. Included in what the poker players need to learn are the strategies like card combination, deciphering body language, measuring intuition and many more.

However, it would take a long time and perhaps a fortune for a novice to learn everything. Going to the casino unarmed with the needed poker strategies will only make you and your game to suffer. There is a solution for that! Why not practice and develop your skills at the comfort of your own home through online poker? Below are some of the ways that you can use to become an excellent poker player:

· Practice for free!

If you are a game lover or a casino enthusiast, there are many methods available to help you develop and improve your poker tactics and skills. The most efficient and the most practical method that you can try is to play online poker for free! Nowadays, there are many websites offering free online poker. Take advantage of this. As they say, practice makes perfect and with free online poker, you get the chance to practice at no cost at all!

· Read, Learn and Apply!

Since online poker is the new trend these days, many websites are offering videos, tips, advice and ebooks. Some of them may be downloaded from websites for free while some will require you to pay a certain amount. Either way is fine but it would be better if you can find a good one for free. Read the content, understand and learn them and of course, apply them in real game. For the first time, you can try playing poker for free and if you see that you have already developed the necessary skill, try joining online poker sites with minimal charge and when you won your games, you can be confident that you are now ready to compete head to head with other players.

· Make Use of Poker Software

There are some websites offering poker software for free in exchange of your registration with them. You can make use of these software tools to improve your skills and for your self practice. Some even provide free poker platform wherein you compete with a virtual opponent. These tools may all be used for your own benefit and advantage.

When you are already confident that you have developed the skills, tactics and strategies you need to excel in poker, you may now go out of your shell and compete in a real game. Now, it’s up to you to decide whether you would like to play online poker or you would like to go to a casino. In making your decision, do not forget to weigh the advantages and the disadvantages of these two!