Baccarat is a traditional table game that dominates the casino space for a long time. Even historians couldn’t agree on the true origins of the game. Most believe that Baccarat comes from Italy in the 1400s, which was called “baccara” which means zero in Italian.
Over the years, Baccarat grew in popularity and spread across all continents. With every new adaptation, big casino companies and different nationalities have added their own flavor to the game.
That is why Baccarat now has several different variants, and each version varies in terms of the rules and side bets. Now we have 3 Card Baccarat popular in Macau casinos, Baccarat Banque common in Europe, Chemin de Fer in France, Mini baccarat, and Midi Baccarat.
In today’s article, we will focus on the most popular version of the game, the midi, and Mini Baccarat. However, before going further you can click here to find out how to play Midi and Mini Baccarat.
What is Mini Baccarat?
Mini baccarat is the most popular version of the game available in most traditional and is similar to casino online pokies. This game involves simple and traditional baccarat rules.
The object of Mini baccarat is to get to 9 points as close as possible. The value of the face cards and tens count as zero, number card are their face value, and aces are counted as one.
The cards are taken from the shoe by the dealer. Both the banker and the player receive two cards and the dealer announced the point counts. If either hand has a point count of eight or nine, it is natural and no other cards are drawn. However, if neither hand has a natural, an additional card must be drawn face up for the player’s and banker’s hand based on the hit/stand rules.
With that, the hand with a point count that is closest to nine wins. If both hands have the same number of points, it is a tie.
There are three betting options with Mini-Baccarat. All participants can bet on the Banker’s Hand, the Player’s hand, or a tie. All of the bets must be placed before the dealer calls “no more bets”.
It is important to mention that the casino takes a 5% commission on winning Banker bets since the Banker has a higher chance of winning. But despite the commission, betting on the banker provides a lower house edge, which is why it is always best to bet on the Banker.
The Mini Baccarat table in live and digital casinos is constructed of seven seats and it is the most popular option found in most casinos.
What is Midi Baccarat?
It is hard to find the difference between Midi and Mini baccarat since the rules are identical, but there is a really fun twist that can spice things up and make the game more interesting. In the Midi variation of Baccarat, the dealer shoots out the cards turning them face down, then pushes the Player cards to the player with the highest wager at the table and the Banker cards to the player with the highest banker wager.
The two players have the option of playing the hands without showing the cards until the end in a classic showdown. Other players on the table can place bets on the player or banker and hope that their representative will win on their behalf.
Midi Baccarat is no different than Mini-Baccarat when it comes to rules of the game, it just adds an element of surprise and the ability to bluff since the cards are racing down.
The only drawback of Midi Baccarat is the slow pace compared to Mini-Baccarat just because casino players do not handle cards or make announcements as fast as the dealer would in Mini-Baccarat.
However, it is always fun to try spicing things up, especially with baccarat since it is one of the simplest games to play at a casino. Both versions are available in both brick-and-mortar-venues and online casinos, which allows players to choose whichever version they prefer.
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