Description
Baccarat is a casino staple; it’s a comparing card game played between the player and the banker. It was popular with the French nobility in the nineteenth century and often played in private gaming rooms ahead of the 1907 legalisation of casino gambling in France. Baccarat remains well-liked to this day.
Live Baccarat from trusted operator 888 Games is a great variant to try. It’s really simple to play, and the helpful dealers are on hand to answer any questions.
It’s powered by software from Evolution Gaming, and you can play this game on most mobile devices.
Simple to play
The aim is pretty straightforward – wager on the hand that will finish with a point total of nine, or as close to it as possible.
After the cards have been dealt, the house pays out on the winning hands or collects the money which has been staked on losing bets.
With three live baccarat rooms on offer, 888 uses a multi-camera format to stream live HD video to your machine, offering card close-ups, cutaways and wide-angle shots.
Meanwhile, the dealers interact with players, from greeting them on arrival to answering questions throughout. You can message them and they’ll answer verbally.
How to play
Live Baccarat follows the traditional rules of aiming to beat the banker by having a hand value as close to nine as possible.
You play with 52 cards and eight decks, betting on which hand will win ahead of each deal. You can also bet that there will be a tie.
Finally, a traffic lights system lets you know when you can place your wager, and when the betting time has ended.
The dealer gives the player and banker two cards each. The value of each hand is worked out by subtracting 10 from a hand otherwise worth 11 or higher.
If either the player or banker gets an initial two-card hand with a value of 8 or 9, no further cards are dealt in that hand.
If the initial value is 0-7, a third card may be dealt, under the Third Card Rule. In this case, the player always goes first.
Live Baccarat card values
- Aces are worth a single point apiece
- Cards 2-9 are face value
- 10s, jacks, kings and queens are worth zero. Only numeric value counts, the suit has no relevance.
Special features
Bonus games
Just as with most casino games, you won’t find any bonus rounds here.
Progressive jackpots
Live Baccarat does not feature any progressive jackpots.
There are various bet limits, depending on which table you choose in the live casino. The relevant panel on your screen shows the maximum and minimum permitted stakes, and your balance is also displayed.
Equally, the numerous payout options and bet types mean that, although the game is not complicated, you can still look forward to some nice payouts.
Return to Player (RTP)
As is typical with this sort of game, the RTP or Return to Player is attractively high, ranging from 86.29% to 97.35%.
Verdict
Live baccarat is a great game to try if you’ve always fancied a live-dealer game but never gotten round to it.
And you should enjoy it whether you’re new to live casino games or a seasoned player – newcomers can be up and running confidently within minutes. But just because it’s simple, that doesn’t mean it can’t also be an exciting game to play.
Reviewers have consistently praised the authenticity and quality of the 888 live casino experience, describing it as one of the operator’s best features. So you should be in for a treat!