Archive for November, 2007

Baccarat

Friday, November 9th, 2007

Baccarat is also known as Punto Banco or Chemin de Fer. The present-day versions of Baccarat are the French variation of an Italian game called “Baccara”. It was first introduced to France at the end of the 15th century, where it was considered a game of the nobility. While modern versions of Baccarat are simple to master and fun to play, they are still considered as some of the most sophisticated games in a modern casino.

Baccarat is a game of chance between the player and the banker. The goal of the game for the player is to draw a two- or three-card hand with a value closer to 9 than the banker’s hand.

Baccarat is also known as Punto Banco or Chemin de Fer. The present-day versions of Baccarat are the French variation of an Italian game called ‘Baccara’. It was first introduced to France at the end of the 15th century, where it was considered a game of the nobility. While modern versions of Baccarat are simple to master and fun to play, they are still considered as some of the most sophisticated games in a modern casino.

Baccarat is a game of chance between the player and the banker. It is played with a six-deck or an eight-deck shoe with a standard deck of 52 cards. The goal of the game for the player is to draw a two- or three-card hand with a value closer to 9 than the banker’s hand.

The player and the banker are initially dealt two cards. Depending on the point value of their hands, a third card may be dealt for each hand. But no hand receives more than three cards. If either hand totals 8 or 9, each of these numbers is called a “Natural”, then no additional cards are dealt. The winning hand is the one with a point total closest to 9.

Card Value

  • An Ace is counted as 1.
  • The cards from 2 through 9 have their face values.
  • 10, Jack, Queen, and King are counted as 0.

Baccarat 1

The value of a hand is simply the sum of point counts of each card in the hand. But only the last digit of the total is used, so all baccarat hands have values in the 0 to 9 range, inclusive. The hand containing 9, A, A is valued as 1 (9 + 1 + 1 = 11, the last digit is 1). If the hand contains (9, 7), its total value is not 16, but 6.

The hand with the higher value wins; if the hands have the same value, the result is a tie. The player’s hand is always played out first.

How to Play

Placing bets

Baccarat

Bets are placed at any of the three possible positions: on the player’s hand to win; on the banker’s hand to win, and on the possibility of a tie. Thus, bets must be placed on Banker, Player or Tie spots.
Note: Bets can be placed on all of the spots at one time, but only for the central player.

To place a bet, use betting chips found at the bottom right part of the table. To select a chip, click the desired chip with the left mouse button. You may need several chips to reach the desired bet amount; in this case the stack of chips will be formed on the spot chosen. To place a chip, use one of the ways provided below:

  • Click on a spot where to place the selected chip.
  • Drag and drop the chosen chip on the desired spot.
  • Click Repeat button to place a bet equal to the previous one (Note: in case it is your first bet, Repeat control is disabled).

The total bet amount value is displayed in a small square beside the chips placed. The betting limits are displayed in the frame at the top left side of the game table.

Removing /Decreasing a bet

To remove a bet completely or decrease its value, you need to remove a chip (chips) placed. You may do it in several ways:

  • Click and drag chips from the table to the betting chips area.
  • Select ‘X’ chip and then click the chip/stack of chips placed. The chips will be removed one by one.
  • Press CTRL and then left click the chip/stack of chips placed. The chips will be removed one by one.
  • Use Clear control to remove all the chips currently placed on the table.

Dealing

Baccarat

Click Deal button to start dealing cards. Once the button is clicked, both you and the Banker are dealt two cards. The first and third cards are dealt to the Player’s hand, the second and fourth – to the Banker’s hand. If necessary, a third card will be dealt, after which the game will end.

If either the player or the banker has a point total 8 or 9 (natural stand) with the first two cards dealt, no more cards are dealt and the winner is the one with the highest value. However, if neither the player nor the banker holds a hand with a point total of 8 or 9, the Third card rule will be invoked.

Note: To start playing a new game round, use New Game button; to repeat the bets placed in the previous game, use Repeat control.

1.5 Game Results / Payouts

Player’s and banker’s hands are evaluated and compared, which hand sum is closer to 9. Hand totals are calculated in accordance with Card Values rules.

To display hand results, small flags (WIN, LOSS, TIE) appear next to every hand indicating whether a hand wins, loses or it is a tie (hand totals are equal).

Losing bets will be collected and the winning bets will be paid according to the rules of the house.

Bet

Odds

Banker hand wins

1 : 1 with 5% commission on win amount for the Casino

Player’s hand wins

1 : 1

Tie

8 : 1

1.6 Third Card Rule

Depending on the points accumulated by each hand after the initial draw, the Banker may need to deal a third card. It is drawn face up, first to the Player’s hand and then, if necessary, to the Banker’s hand. No more than one additional card per hand may be dealt. The drawing of the third card is governed by the following fixed rules (refer to the tables below).

Player’s hand:

Player’s two card total

Player’s Action

1-2-3-4-5-0

Draws if the Banker does not hold a 8 or 9

6-7-8-9

Stands

If the Player or Banker has an initial total of 8 or 9, this is a “natural” and neither Player nor the Banker draw further cards.

Banker’s Hand:

The banker’s third card rule may depend on the third card drawn for the player.

Banker’s two card total

Banker’s Action

0-1-2

Must draw if Player does not hold a 8 or 9

7-8-9

Must Stand

Banker’s two card total is:

Player’s two card total is:

Banker’s action:

3-4-5

6-7 (player stands)

Draws another card

6

6-7 (player stands)

Stands

When Banker’s total is 3-6:

Banker’s two card total

The Banker draws when player’s third card is:

The Banker stands when player’s third card is:

3

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-9-0

8

4

2-3-4-5-6-7

1-8-9-0

5

4-5-6-7

1-2-3-8-9-0

6

6-7

1-2-3-4-5-8-9-0

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Aztec Slots

Monday, November 5th, 2007

Video Slots are richer than the normal spinning reels slots both in graphic design and in content, which makes many of them branded and their gaming experience more interactive and entertaining. Whereas three-reel slots usually have one payline, video slots always have more than one and sometimes as many as nine paylines. As in three-reel slots, various symbol combinations falling on the activated paylines is what generates a win and payout. The bonus games feature is the latest and most popular development of the video slot machines. Thus, play a mysterious and colorful game of Aztec Slots to explore the rich Aztec culture and win huge prizes!

Video Slots are practically the same as regular slots but they use a video display and five reels, instead of three spinning wheels found on the traditional three-reel format. There are enhanced graphics and other video and audio effects which create an exciting playing experience. Whereas three-reel slots usually have one payline, video slots always have more than one and sometimes as many as nine paylines. As in three-reel slots, various symbol combinations falling on the activated paylines is what generates a win and payout. The bonus games feature is the latest and most popular development of the video slot machines.

Play a mysterious and colorful game of Aztec Slots to explore rich Aztec culture and win huge prizes!

How to Play

The Aztec Slots machine has five reels and nine paylines. The objective is to spin the reels so that the symbols form a winning combination on at least one of the paylines.
Paylines are straight or zigzagged lines that cross through one symbol on each reel, along which a winning combination is evaluated. Each of paylines is highlighted at the game screen in a particular color. These are nine possible paylines:

At the bottom part of the screen there is the control panel with the help of which a player can control the game flow.

Value field displays the unit stake value (bet per line value).
Bet shows the total bet value equal to (Bet per line value) x (Number of lines wagered).
Free Spins displays the number of free spins granted to a player as a bonus.
Win field displays the win amount once the winning combination is formed on the reels. It equals (Bet per line value) x (Number of points won according to the payout table).
Placing a bet in Video Slots games means selecting the number of lines to bet on and bet per line value.
• To set the bet per line value use ‘+’ and ‘-’ buttons on both sides of Value field. Minimal bet per line value is 0.1, maximal credit value is 5. So the maximum possible bet amount totals 45. It is calculated as follows: 5 (bet per line value) x 9 (number of active paylines).
• To set the number of active lines per spin, click Bet One button. With each click on the button the number of active paylines will be increased by one. Active lines are highlighted with the corresponding colors at the main game screen.
Note: On both sides of each payline there are two buttons displaying its number. To set the number of active paylines, you may click the corresponding payline button. Thus, to wager on 4 paylines, use Payline Button 4. After clicking the mentioned button 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th paylines will be wagered and highlighted.
• To start reels spin, click Spin button.
• To place a maximum bet of 9 paylines, use Bet Max control. Once Bet Max control is clicked, the reels start spinning automatically.
• To view the payout table, click one of two View Payout buttons. To return to the main game screen click Back to Game button.
Once the reels stop spinning and there is no winning combination formed on the payline, all the buttons at the control panel become activated and you can place a new bet. In case there is a winning combination along one of the paylines formed, it is animated and the corresponding field in the payout table starts blinking.

Bonus Features


Wild Symbol
Aztec Slots game has a Wild Symbol, which substitutes for any symbol (except for bonus symbols) and helps to form a winning combination. The wild symbol does not pay anything by itself.


Bonus Game

The combination of 3 or more bonus symbols anywhere on the active payline triggers ‘Trail of Supreme’ bonus game


Free Spins
In case a combination of 4 Scatter symbols is formed anywhere on the reels, a player is granted 3 free spins.
A combination of 5 Scatter symbols formed anywhere on the reels brings a player 30 free spins.
In the event of free spins, the reels start spinning automatically without clicking the Spin button by a player.

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