The tables/Table No. 03 · Baccarat
Champagne Baccarat
Baccarat is the most composed game in any salon, and this table keeps it that way. Lay your chips on Player, Banker or Tie, press Deal, and let the cards and the old third-card rules settle everything. Nothing to decide after the deal, only the small ceremony of turning cards.
Table No. 03Punto banco · Six decksChips 10 to 500 VL
Played with free Velora Chips only. They have no cash value and the refill is always free.
How to play
Choose a side, then watch.
- Pick a chip value: 10, 25, 100 or 500 VL.
- Tap Player, Banker or Tie to place chips. You may back more than one box, and tap again to add more to the same one.
- Press Deal. Two cards go to each side, turned one at a time.
- When the rules call for it, a third card is drawn for the Player, the Banker or both, entirely automatically.
- The hand closer to nine takes the round, chips on that box are paid, and the cloth clears for the next deal.
Reading the payouts
Three boxes on the cloth.
| Player | 1 to 1You back the Player hand to finish closer to nine. |
|---|---|
| Banker | 0.95 to 1The Banker hand comes out ahead a touch more often, so its payout is trimmed by five per cent. |
| Tie | 8 to 1Both hands finish on the same total. Chips on Player or Banker are handed back when it happens. |
Counting is simple once you have seen it. Aces are worth one, two to nine are worth their face, and tens and picture cards are worth nothing. Only the last digit of a total counts, so a seven and an eight make five rather than fifteen.
Rounds and chips
A deal is a round.
The chips you place leave your balance when you press Deal, and anything collected comes back as soon as the last card is shown. “Repeat stake” puts the same chips on the same boxes again; “Clear” lifts them all before the deal. Six decks sit in the shoe and are reshuffled automatically when it runs low.
As at every table here, Velora Chips are free, can be refilled to 5,000 VL at any time and have no cash value whatsoever.
A word on pace
Faster than it feels.
Because there is nothing to decide once the cards are out, baccarat moves more quickly than its manners suggest. A dozen hands can pass in the time it takes to finish a glass. That is lovely for an evening and less lovely for a whole night, so keep half an eye on the clock, or let the reminder on our responsible play page keep it for you.
The story
Behind the velvet rope.
In the grander rooms, baccarat was played behind a velvet rope, with cards passed along a long wooden paddle. We have no rope and no paddle, but we kept the hush. The cloth is lettered in champagne, the Player and Banker boxes are drawn with a single hairline, and the Tie box carries the faintest trace of emerald: the rarest result, dressed in the house's one bright colour.
Three questions
Over the cloth.
Why does Banker pay a little less than Player?
Under the third-card rules the Banker hand finishes ahead slightly more often, so a small trim keeps the two sides in balance. It is a convention of the game, kept here so the table plays the way baccarat always has.
Do I ever choose whether to draw a third card?
No. In punto banco a fixed tableau decides for both hands, based on the first two totals. That is why this table suits an evening when you simply want to watch the cards fall.
What is a “natural”?
A two-card total of eight or nine. When either hand shows a natural, no third cards are drawn and the round ends on the spot.