Baccarat is a simple casino card game in which players attempt to predict which, if either, of two hands, known as ‘Player’ and ‘Banker’, will reach a total of nine, or as close as possible, in two or three cards. All betting must be completed before any cards are dealt. A winning bet on the ‘Player’ hand or the ‘Banker’ hand pays 1/1 although, in the latter case, winning bets are subject to 5% commission, threby reducing the overall odds to 19/20. A winning bet on the tie pays 8/1, or 9/1, depending on the house rules. In terms of the mathematical advantage in favour of the casino, a.k.a. the ‘house edge’, the ‘Banker’ bet offers 1.06%, the ‘Player’ bet offers 1.24%, but the tie bet offers a much less competitive 14.36%.
The total of each hand is calculated by adding together the value of each card; tens and court cards count as zero, aces count as one and all other cards count as face value. However, the maximum total for either hand is nine, so if the individual cards total above nine the first digit is dropped, thereby leaving a single-digit total.
The ‘Player’ hand is completed first; if the first two cards dealt add up to eight or nine, no further cards are drawn and the ‘Player’ hand, known as a ‘natural’, wins automatically, unless the ‘Banker’ hand has an equal, or higher, natural, in which case the hand is tied, or the ‘Banker’ hand wins automatically. If the first two cards dealt add up to five or less, the ‘Player’ hand draws a third card, but stands pat if the first two cards add up to six or seven. If the ‘Player’ hand stands pat, the ‘Banker’ hand also draws a third card on five or less and stands pat on six or seven but, otherwise, the decision to draw a third card depends on the ‘Banker’ hand total, the third card drawn by the ‘Player’ hand and the strict rules of the game.
Originally titled ‘Sydney’, after the main protagonist, played by Philip Baker Hall, ‘Hard Eight’ is a 1996 crime drama film, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. For the uninitiated, in casino craps, a shooter can roll an eight with two dice in one of five ways, two and six, six and two, three and five, five and three or four and four, but only the latter is known as a ‘hard eight’ and pays odds of 9/1.
Although set in contemporary, modern times, ‘Hard Eight’ features a tough, morally ambiguous main protagonist and a bleak, cynical outlook, characteristic of the filmmaking style known as ‘film noir’. Indeed, Paul Thomas Anderson conceded that the 1956 French gangster film ‘Bob Le Flambeur’, which is considered a film noir, was a major influence on ‘Hard Eight’, which is sometimes described as ‘neo-noir’.
The aforementioned Sydney, an aging, but apparently affable and successful, professional gambler, first encounters confirmed also-ran John (John C. Riley) at a diner in the middle of the Nevada desert but, having befriended the younger man, offers to show him the tricks of the trade. Back in Reno, John initially earns himself a complimentary room with the so-called ‘rate card trick’ and, over the next year or two, develops into a successful small-time professional gambler in his own right.
John falls for, and eventually marries, Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow), a cocktail waitress and occasional prositute, and befriends Jimmy, a vulgar casino security man. Jimmy later holds Sydney at gunpoint and threatens to reveal that he killed John’s father unless he pays blackmail. Jimmy demands $10,000, but Sydney agrees, and later pays, $6,000. Jimmy plays craps with the money, winning $18,000 courtesy of a $2,000 bet on a ‘hard eight’ but, on his return, Sydney reveals his treu colours, shooting him dead and recovering his money, with interest.
Big Six Wheel, also known as ‘Money Wheel’ or ‘Wheel of Fortune’, is a straightforward game of chance, which requires no specialist knowledge, skill or strategy. In common with similar casino games, such as keno and slots, the house edge is significantly higher than games that involve at least an element of strategy.
The game is played with a large, vertically mounted wheel, typically 6′ or more in diamter, which is divided into 54 equal compartments, each of which is marked with one of seven insignia, separated by pegs. The insignia usually include the monetary values $1, $2, $5, $10 and $20, plus a joker and a USA flag, or two casino logos. The dealer spins the wheel such that it completes several complete rotations and, when it comes to rest, an arrow, needle or leather strip, known as a ‘clapper’, at the top of the wheel indicates the winning monetary value or symbol. Fairly obviously, the object of the game is to predict where the wheel will stop.
The payout odds for each insignia depend on the frequency with which it appears on the wheel and, typically, the higher the payout odds the higher the house edge. Under Las Vegas rules, the payout odds for the $1 insignia, of which there are 24 on the wheel, are at least 1/1, corresponding to a house edge of 11.11%. At the other end of the scale, the payout odds for the joker insignia, of which there is just one on the wheel, are at least 40/1, corresponding to a house edge of 24.07%.
For many at this time, life has been pretty much on hold and access to bricks and mortar casinos (or anywhere for that matter) put firmly on the ‘back burner’ in most nations. Prior to recent times, for some of us, casinos had proved to be the occasional ‘unwind’ that we wanted and also were fun times spent with friends or family. For roulette and slots fans like myself, online casinos have become a legitimate alternative – providing an at-home casino experience. Try rtp slots on Johnslots for instance, and you’ll soon release what you’ve been missing. With so many original and inventive slots to play there are no shortage of options close to hand.
RTP slots are also a responsible option when compared to many other online slots game types. RTP, meaning ‘Return To Player’ value, essentially informs you of how much of a house edge this particular slots game has over the long term. That way you’re fully informed as you play and are able to enjoy playing with all of the facts to hand, rather than using guesswork or being under the illusion that an outcome is more likely than it actually is. Some slots even have an RTP of between 98-99% which really does give the casino only a small edge and is impressive in comparison to many real world slots machines. Of course even the official stats won’t hold true for every single instance of play but that can work for you as much as against, as lady luck is often something that goes hand-in-hand with playing any casino game.
Case in point is roulette, it’s one game with a small house edge, but really does have some wild swings of fortune this way and that. Of course there are many different approaches (as in, if you stick with a single number of a prolonged period, while it may soon come up, statistically it could take a good while to!) but even with that in mind, it’s amazing to see the winning runs – or its opposite – that can occur. It’s all part of the casino experience though and when your luck is in it really can be an unrivaled experience!
With all casino games it of course pays (in more ways than one) to set your own limits, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to be playing games where there’s only a small house edge, as that isn’t true of all casino games out there. Getting more bang for your buck and giving yourself the best chance possible to come out of top (even if you don’t have an expectation as such of winning anyway) is a good strategy for anything in life really.
