Premise of the Game
Punto Banco is a close relative of Baccarat. The objective of the game is to get closest to a total of nine.
Punto Banco is played with 6 decks of 52 cards from Twos to Aces in each suit. The dealer shuffles the cards before a game starts creating a single deck of 312 cards and the player cuts the cards. Then the deck is placed in the dealer’s shoe and the dealer cuts the deck in the middle with a cut card. The cut card is a divider that marks part of the deck which will not change. The cards that have just played go out of the game and will get back only when the separator is taken out and a new deck is placed in the dealer’s shoe.
Card Values
- Card values from 2 to 9 match their face values.
- The values of 10, Jack, Queen, and King equal 0.
- Ace is 1.
If the total score exceeds 9, then the remainder of division by 10 is counted (or you need to subtract 10 points from the total as long as it is less than 10).
For example : 8+8+9 = 25 = 25 - 2*10 = 5 points.
Bets
There are three bets in Punto Banco:
| Bet |
Pays |
Range |
| Punto |
1 to 1 |
5 - 300 |
| Banco |
19 to 20 |
5 - 300 |
| Egalite |
8 to 1 |
1 - 50 |
A bet in any box as well as the total of all bets of one kind must be within the set range.
In order to make a bet you need to click on a corresponding chip and a field in which you would like to place it, or you should drag the chip to the field. In order to clear a bet you need to click on the field while pressing Ctrl. You can clear all bets by pressing Cancel. You can repeat the bets of the previous game by pressing Rebet.
How to Start Playing
In order to start a game a player needs to make bets and press Deal. The dealer draws four cards face-up in the following order: Punto-Banco-Punto-Banco.
If either the player or the dealer has 8 or 9 points, then the combination is called Natural 8 or Natural 9 accordingly. If a Natural occurs, the game stops, the dealer compares combinations, declares results, and pays winnings.
If neither the player nor the dealer has a Natural, then the Third Card Rule comes into play.
Third Card for Punto
First, the dealer decides whether a third card should be dealt to Punto. He follows this simple rule:
| Punto Total |
Decision |
| 0-1-2-3-4-5 |
Draws a card |
| 6-7 |
Stands |
Third Card for Banco
Once the third card for Punto decision-making is over, the dealer decides whether to deal a third card for Banco.
If Punto has only two cards, the dealer draws another card when the total score is five or less, and stands when the total is 6 or more.
If Punto has three cards, then the dealer conforms to the following rules:
| Banco Total |
|
Draws if the third card is Punto |
|
Stands if the third card is Punto |
| 0-1-2 |
|
Always draws |
|
|
| 3 |
|
0-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-9 |
|
8 |
| 4 |
|
2-3-4-5-6-7 |
|
0-1-8-9 |
| 5 |
|
4-5-6-7 |
|
0-1-2-3-8-9 |
| 6 |
|
6-7 |
|
0-1-2-3-4-5-8-9 |
| 7 |
|
|
|
Always stands |
Combination Comparison
When all cards are dealt to Punto and Banco, the dealer compares the total scores and pays winnings.
There are three outcomes in the game:
- Punto wins: all Banco and Egalite bets lose, Punto bets pay 1 to 1
- Banco wins: all Punto and Egalite bets lose, Banco bets pay 19 to 20
- Egalite: all Egalite bets pay 8 to 1, Punto and Banco bets are returned to the player
Once bets are paid, the dealer takes out of the game the cards that have just played and offers the player to start a new game.
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