INTRODUCTION TO PUNTO BANCO
The game of Punto Banco comes from the game of Baccarat. The player decides where to place their bets and then the game begins. Similar to Baccarat the winner of the game is the player closer to the value of 9.
THE RULES & HOW TO PLAY PUNTO BANCO
Similar to Baccarat 10s, J, Q, K do not have a value, Aces have a value of one and the other cards have their face values. The value of the hand is added up and if the total is in double figures, 10 is subtracted from the total. For example if you draw an 8 and 9, you simply add them together (17) and minus 10 – meaning that you have 7.
The player can choose to bet on Punto (the player), Bunco (the dealer) or egalite (a tie).
Once the two hands have been dealt to the player and dealer the following rules apply:
- If the players hand add up to between 0 – 5 a third hand is drawn
- If the total is six or seven, it stands, if it is an eight or nine the player stands.
- If the banker is worth 0-3 the banker must draw a third card whatever the value of the player’s third card.
- If the total is four, and the player’s hand value is between 2-7 the banker must draw a third card.
- If the bankers total is 5 and the value of the player hand is between 4-7 the banker must draw a third card.
- If the banker total is 6 and the players hand is 6-7 he must draw a third card, but only if the players hand total was achieved within three cards. However if the players hand was made by just two cards, the banker must then stand! Confused yet?
- Also if the bankers hand totals 7 they must stand and if their hand is worth a total of 8 or 9 then banker and player both stand.
- At the end of all this process there is either a clear winner or a draw. All bets on the player or ‘Punto’ winning are paid out at even money. If the dealer or ‘Banco’ wins then pay outs are at 19/20. A winning draw or ‘egalite’ is paid at 8/1.
Like so many casino games, Punto Banco is also a game of chance so the strategy for playing is not very complicated. In Punto Banco, the goal of the game is to pick a winner, the player, banker or house, or on a tie. As such, the smartest strategy is to bet on the person who has the highest chance of winning – this would be the dealer.
But of course, this wouldn’t be an online casino game if there weren’t any risk for the casino as well (like there is for the player). While the house does carry a slightly higher advantage it doesn’t, in any way, mean they will always win so feel free to vary it up a bit.
Another strategy to play is by observing the game without making any bets first. Check out a few rounds and see how the cards are working out then place your bets on how you think the pattern will play out. While this strategy is based completely on chance (as previous hands have no bearing on the next ones to come) it can be lots of fun to try and figure out interesting patterns.
Playing a progressive betting system can also be fun and challenging as well. There are several you can choose from that allow you to increase or decrease your bets as you win or lose, play interesting number patterns and more and they vary on level of risk involved as well. There are many progressive systems out there so check out a few before you delve into the game. We recommend the Martingale, the D’Alembert System or Oscar’s Grind Betting System. Check out our Roulette Strategy section for more details on these betting systems.
The best thing about Punto Banco though is that, regardless of your skill level, anyone can learn to play the game and even master a strategy or two too!
PUNTO BANCO
5Casinos recommendation
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