Six full packs of cards of the same pattern are used, shuffled together.
The players seat themselves round the table. In the centre is a basket for
the reception of the used cards. If there is any question as to the
relative positions of the players, it is decided by lot. The person who
draws the first place seats himself next on the right hand of the croupier,
and the rest follow in succession. The croupier shuffles the cards, and
then passes them on, each player having the right to shuffle in turn. When
they have made the circuit of the table, the croupier again shuffles, and,
having done so, offers the cards to the player on his left, who cuts. The
croupier places the cards before him, and, taking a manageable quantity
from the top, hands it to the player on his right, who for the time being
is dealer, or "banker." The other players are punters. The dealer places
before him the amount he is disposed to risk, and the players "make their
stakes." Any punter, beginning with the player on the immediate right of
the dealer, is entitled to "go bank," viz. to play against the whole of the
banker's stake. If no one says "Banco" (which is the formula by which the
desire to go bank is expressed), each player places his stake before him.
If the total so staked by the seated players is not equal to the amount for
the {6} time being in the bank, other persons standing round may stake in
addition. If it is more than equal to the amount in the bank, the punters
nearest in order to the banker have the preference up to such amount, the
banker having the right to decline any stake in excess of that limit.
The stakes being made, the banker proceeds to deal four cards, face
downwards, the first, for the punters, to the right; the second to himself;
the third for the punters, the fourth to himself. The player who has the
highest stake represents the punters. If two punters are equal in this
respect, the player first in rotation has the preference. Each then looks
at his cards. If he finds that they make either _nine_, the highest point
at Baccarat, or _eight_, the next highest, he turns them up, announcing the
number aloud, and the hand is at an end.
If the banker's point is the better, the stakes of the punter become the
property of the bank. If the punters' point is the better, the banker (or
the croupier for him) pays each punter the amount of his stake. The stakes
are made afresh, and the game proceeds. If the banker has been the winner,
he deals again. If otherwise, the cards are passed to the player next in
order, who thereupon becomes banker in his turn.
We will now take the case that neither party turns up his cards; this is
tantamount to an admission that neither has eight or nine. In such case the
banker is bound to offer a third card. If the point of the punter is
baccarat (_i.e._ cards together amounting to ten or twenty, = 0), one, two,
three, or four, he accepts as a matter of course, replying, "Yes," or
"Card." A third card is then given to {7} him, face upwards. If his point
is already six or seven, he will, equally as a matter of course, _refuse_
the offered card. To accept a card with six or seven, or refuse with
baccarat, one, two, three, or four (known in either case as a "false
draw"), is a breach of the established procedure of the game, and brings
down upon the head of the offender the wrath of his fellow-punters; indeed,
in some circles he is made liable for any loss they may incur thereby, and
in others is punishable by a fine. At the point of five, and no other, is
it optional to the punter whether to take a card or not; nobody has the
right to advise him, or to remark upon his decision.
The banker has now to decide whether he himself will draw a card, being
guided in his decision partly by the cards he already holds, partly by the
card (if any) drawn by the punter, and partly by what he may know or guess
of the latter's mode of play. If he has hesitated over his decision, the
banker may be pretty certain (unless such hesitation was an intentional
blind) that his original point was five, and as the third card (if any) is
exposed, his present point becomes equally a matter of certainty. The
banker, having drawn or not drawn, as he may elect, exposes his cards, and
receives or pays as the case may be. Ties neither win nor lose, but the
stakes abide the result of the next hand.
The banker is not permitted to withdraw any part of his winnings, which go
to increase the amount in the bank. Should he at any given moment desire to
retire, he says, "I pass the deal." In such case each of the other players,
in rotation, has the option of taking it, but he must start the bank with
the same amount at which it stood when the last banker {8} retired. Should
no one present care to risk so high a figure, the deal passes to the player
next on the right hand of the retiring banker, who is in such case at
liberty to start the bank with such amount as he thinks fit, the late
banker now being regarded as last in order of rotation, though the
respective priorities are not otherwise affected.
A player who has "gone bank," and lost, is entitled to do so again on the
next hand, notwithstanding that the deal may have "passed" to another
player.
When the first supply of cards is exhausted, the croupier takes a fresh
handful from the heap before him, has them cut by the player on his left,
and hands them to the banker. To constitute a valid deal, there must be not
less than seven cards left in the dealer's hand. Should the cards in hand
fall below this number, they are thrown into the waste-basket, and the
banker takes a fresh supply as above mentioned.