Punto Banco is one of the most popular card games in Pakistan. It is a variant of Baccarat, but instead of having players competing against each other, everyone is playing against the dealer. The objective of Punto Banco is to predict which hand, the Player (“Punto”) or Banker (“Banco”), will have the higher score.
The game is played using six decks of 52 playing cards. The Cards 2 through 9 have their face value, the 10, Jack, Queen, and King have a value of zero, and the Ace is worth 1. All of the cards are counted according to their face value, and the total cannot exceed nine.
Players can place their bets on the Punto, Banco, Tie, or any combination before the cards are dealt. Once bets are placed, the dealer will deal one card to the Punto player, one card to the Banco player and one card to the Punto player. The Banker and Player each look at their cards to determine if they want to draw a third card or stand.
The Banker draws a third card if the Player has not drawn a third card and the Banker has a total of 0-5. The Banker stands if the Player has not drawn a third card and the Banker has a total of 6-9. After the Player and Banker make their decision about the Third card, the hands are compared to determine who has won.
If either the Player or Banker has a total of 8 or 9, it is referred to as a Natural and the game is over. If the totals are the same, then the hand is a tie and the bets are usually returned.