Chemin de Fer is a Baccarat type that is not very common in North America. This is because we mostly see Nevada Baccarat being played there. On the other hand, Chemin de Fer is popular in Europe, mostly in French casinos.
Similar to the American version to some degree, Chemin de Fer comes with similar basic rules in order to analyze hand values. The game’s objective is the same and you will need to have a hand value of 9 or as close as possible without going over.
The most important difference stands in the banker’s role. In American baccarat version a banker is basically the casino representative. The house will offer funds to a bank during the game. Chemin de Fer sees the banker not being the casino. This will be a role that will rotate among seated players. In this particular version a player cannot just bet on player or bank as there is also a need to bet on himself. The banker role will rotate clockwise but a player can also refuse to be a banker. In this case the role will be passed to the player to the right.
In the game of Chemin de Fer we see the casino or house playing just the role of offering a location where the game can be held together with the necessary equipment. This includes a baccarat table, cards and dealers or croupiers. It is also the responsibility of the house to make sure that all rules are properly respected. For such services a casino will charge around 5% of all profits made.
Another difference between Chemin de Fer and North American Baccarat is the rules of the draw. Chemin de Fer shows a flexible draw. As an example, in American Baccarat the players have to draw on anything that is equal or less than five. Chemin de Fer has players either drawing or standing on 5. Another version of this game is the Baccarat en Banque: read about it and see if you are curios enough to try it.
