Big Table Baccarat in Vegas
What are the minimums, hours of operation etc...?
Also does the Rio still have a big table? What are it's hours and minimums?
Quote: abe3689Does anyone know which casinos offer big table baccarat, besides Bellagio? Any casinos downtown?
Lots. Mandalay, MGM, Aria, Caesars, Venetian, Wynn. I don't think anyone downtown does. The only hope would be the Golden Nugget, and I'm pretty sure they don't.
That`s what I call living .
WASHOO2
Quote: WizardLots. Mandalay, MGM, Aria, Caesars, Venetian, Wynn. I don't think anyone downtown does. The only hope would be the Golden Nugget, and I'm pretty sure they don't.
Are you familiar with the hours and minimums and maximums? Also I hear the Rio offered big table bac. Is this still true?
Quote: Gabes22When I was at Mandalay Bay back in October, the Baccarat tables in the High Limit Room seemed to have a minimum bet of $200/hand.
they say about the big table:
if you have to ask about the minimum,
you probably shouldn't be playing there...
just a thought.
Quote: WongBothey say about the big table:
if you have to ask about the minimum,
you probably shouldn't be playing there...
just a thought.
No. Just that there is a big difference between a $100 min table and a $500 min table.
Think of it as the difference between a $5 (red chip) game, or a $25 (green chip) game...
of course that comes from guys who are betting upwards of 5K a hand.
personally, i prefer midi. i like the lower minimum as well.
Mini-baccarat is the one dealt on the high table with a dealer doing all the work.
Midi-baccarat is the one dealt on a low table with more spots.
Macau-style baccarat resembles Midi-Baccarat, but players handle cards
Big baccarat is played on the large table with the shoe passed around.
There's a style at Rivers in Chicago that's between Macau baccarat and big baccarat, with three dealers, on a big table, but they don't pass the shoe around...
Way off topic, but has Heather posted on here in a while? She seems to be an expert on this topic.
Quote: TiltpoulWay off topic, but has Heather posted on here in a while? She seems to be an expert on this topic.
I noticed Heather on another thread a few days back....she had been MIA for awhile......You are right, she is an expert on Baccarat and I believe it is her game of choice.
Quote: TiltpoulThere are so many "styles" of baccarat now it's hard to keep track.
I prefer the mini-Bacc tables on the floor of the casino since my limits are low and I am so anti-social that I can't stand the antics of other players. My betting limits won't get me any exotic comps, so I don't even go the Wynn which has fairly low limits at times.
The dealer touches the cards, I put my chips down on Banker ... what more do I need?
Yes, its dealt fairly fast... so I don't stay long. Its dealt slower at a "real" table, but that means I would have to put up with those dreaded objects...people.
Quote: ParadigmI noticed Heather on another thread a few days back....she had been MIA for awhile......You are right, she is an expert on Baccarat and I believe it is her game of choice.
LOL ... why thank you. I usually play at the LV Hilton Baccarat room; the big table minimum is $100. Max depends on the night and they'll let you go over it if they know you and get a supervisor's okay. I used to play at the Stardust years ago but obviously it's gone now; they were black-chip minimums for big table, too.
There are some revamped high limit rooms at some of the newer properties that have very cool big table games. Mandalay Bay has the tuxedoed dealers and $5000 chips. Carta Privada at Aria has $100 minimums on all its games, including big table Baccarat, but even the mini-bacc games there tend to be played with $500 chips or larger (at least when I was there, and I should note as an aside that I don't consider mini-bacc to be Baccarat as I understand the game). They do have a separate Baccarat room, though, which I like. The Wynn's high limit room has windows you can look out of while you're playing (an extreme rarity). I tend to prefer special Baccarat rooms over high limit rooms, though. The MGM Grand used to have the coolest Baccarat room in town, actually a double room with a semi-private lounge in between the two sections, which I really liked, but they've since remodelled (as a result of a massive Baccarat loss to the late Kerry Packer, if what I hear be true).
You are correct, though, in that you only get to handle the shoe at the big tables (or, at least, I've never seen it getting passed around at midi or mini-bacc). Whether or not you can touch the cards at a midi table depends on where you're playing. For me, it's not Baccarat unless I can bend and squeeze the cards, but passing the shoe isn't essential. I do think it's fun, though.
I think that I may have mentioned that I've played chemin de fer at the Casino de la Valle in Italy. In that game, players get to take turns banking, which is really fun. I'd love to see chemin de fer in Las Vegas. It might make an interesting draw for the poker crowd.
EDIT: Forgot to mention -- the Hilton has the best Baccarat room staff and hosts, IMO, at least since the 'Dust closed. Their hosts have given me shopping cards before I've even gotten to the tables, and paid my airfare several times.
Quote: heatherFor me, it's not Baccarat unless I can bend and squeeze the cards, but passing the shoe isn't essential. I do think it's fun, though.
.
My wife thinks its fun, squeezing drives me up
the wall. Its just useless melodrama, it doesn't
advance the game. The card will be the same
if you flip it immediately, or take 2min and get
yourself a lot of attention goofing around with it.
It just occurred to me that there's another huge difference with big table Baccarat (vice midi or mini-bacc) that hasn't been mentioned, which is the elaborate ten-minute shuffling procedure, where all the cards are dumped on the table and everyone gets to push them around. The length of this procedure (which is probably hated by casino management) provides a great opportunity for bathroom breaks, private phone calls, or a quick snack. Happens about once an hour.
Quote: EvenBobMy wife thinks its fun, squeezing drives me up
the wall. Its just useless melodrama, it doesn't
advance the game. The card will be the same
if you flip it immediately, or take 2min and get
yourself a lot of attention goofing around with it.
The other day I saw an elderly Asian woman losing thousands of dollars playing three card poker. She was playing 3 spots and betting mostly on the pair plus, increasing her bets as her losses added up. Anyway, she would squeeze out her hands looking for that straight flush, much as a big-table Bac player would do. Kind of annoyed me as she was slowing the pace way down, but in retrospect I'm thankful as I was not playing a positive game (there are sometimes flashers at this game, but I'm not disciplined enough to not play when they aren't dealing). She seemed to be having a good time, I hope her bankroll was able to handle the negative variance!
Quote: EvenBobMy wife thinks its fun, squeezing drives me up
the wall. Its just useless melodrama, it doesn't
advance the game. The card will be the same
if you flip it immediately, or take 2min and get
yourself a lot of attention goofing around with it.
But that's the whole point.
Without all the ritual, Baccarat is little more than glorified Casino War played in overly formal clothes.
They should bring back Chemin de Fer, at least it's more complicated, which should further help keep the unwashed prole masses out.
Quote: abe3689It is nice everyone has contributed their personal preferences and tastes. But if anyone has more information on the original question, and follow up question, I'd greatly appreciate it.
I'm pretty sure the OP of this thread wants it to die quickly, so we should probably just stick to the original question and follow-up question...
Quote: EvenBobMy wife thinks its fun, squeezing drives me up
the wall. Its just useless melodrama, it doesn't
advance the game. The card will be the same
if you flip it immediately, or take 2min and get
yourself a lot of attention goofing around with it.
If anything it slows the game down to a crawl so you will lose less.
2 dealers, 7 other players , and the room manager. I learned a lot about immigrations laws, how much players and staff had paid to bring their families into this country. How many fathers in Asia had standing offer of $10,00 to $25,000 for an American asian male to marry their daughters, etc.
But the thing I remember most were these two female Asian rocks. Somehow the subject of baccarat coming to Colorado was raised. But ladies got excited, and one showed how she squeezed the cards. And it look like she was about to have an orgasm.
Quote: P90They should bring back Chemin de Fer, at least it's more complicated, which should further help keep the unwashed prole masses out.
I can't tell you how glad I am to see someone other than myself saying they'd like to see Chemin de Fer in the US. I don't think that it necessarily has to be the James Bond game that it is in Europe, though (although that could be cool). I feel like it's a game that Poker players could get interested in. You're playing for the players' own money, like in Poker, and you get to make strategic decisions about whether to take another card, like in Poker, and you can play it with a positive EV, like Poker, and the rules are simpler than Pai Gow. As a bonus, the table is shaped somewhat like a Poker table. You could even deliberately mistranslate the name of the game as "Railroad" to try to make it sound less foreign (though that might have the unintended consequence of making it sound like a new carnival game).
Quote: P90Without all the ritual, Baccarat is little more than glorified Casino War played in overly formal clothes.
Same reason I have trouble getting into playing Baccarat online. Hands blow by in seconds and there's no drama while you bend the cards and nobody pulls your chair out for you. (Also the limits are always too low -- although one-dollar Baccarat is almost strange enough to have some novelty value in itself.)
Quote: heatherLOL ... why thank you. I usually play at the LV Hilton Baccarat room; the big table minimum is $100. Max depends on the night and they'll let you go over it if they know you and get a supervisor's okay. I used to play at the Stardust years ago but obviously it's gone now; they were black-chip minimums for big table, too.
There are some revamped high limit rooms at some of the newer properties that have very cool big table games. Mandalay Bay has the tuxedoed dealers and $5000 chips. Carta Privada at Aria has $100 minimums on all its games, including big table Baccarat, but even the mini-bacc games there tend to be played with $500 chips or larger (at least when I was there, and I should note as an aside that I don't consider mini-bacc to be Baccarat as I understand the game). They do have a separate Baccarat room, though, which I like. The Wynn's high limit room has windows you can look out of while you're playing (an extreme rarity). I tend to prefer special Baccarat rooms over high limit rooms, though. The MGM Grand used to have the coolest Baccarat room in town, actually a double room with a semi-private lounge in between the two sections, which I really liked, but they've since remodelled (as a result of a massive Baccarat loss to the late Kerry Packer, if what I hear be true).
I spoke to a Table Games supervisor at Mandalay Bay. He said they took out their big table baccarat, and only have midi. I also spoke to a casino host at Aria who told me they only have big table baccarat for reserved guests and minimum $100,000 credit line (Yikes!). Otherwise it's midi there too. Then I spoke to a Table Games Supervisor at Hilton who told me they took out their big table about 2 or 3 years ago.
That doesn't leave many other options. I've heard Wynn and Venetian have it, but the minimum is $300-$500. Outside of my bankroll.
Last year I played at Bellagio which had it running on a weeknight at $100 minimum.
Sad to say, but unless you're Kerry-Packer-esque, this seems to be a dying game.
Quote: abe3689I spoke to a Table Games supervisor at Mandalay Bay. He said they took out their big table baccarat, and only have midi. I also spoke to a casino host at Aria who told me they only have big table baccarat for reserved guests and minimum $100,000 credit line (Yikes!).
I've only played once at each of those, mostly to check the places out. Glad that I did while I had a chance.
Quote: abe3689Then I spoke to a Table Games Supervisor at Hilton who told me they took out their big table about 2 or 3 years ago.
That is a tragedy of monumental proportions. Must have been two years ago because I played there the year before last. I've been really busy and have only been to Atlantic City since, though. What a disaster. Now I have no idea where I'll stay for my next trip. Macau, maybe.
Quote: heatherI've only played once at each of those, mostly to check the places out. Glad that I did while I had a chance.
That is a tragedy of monumental proportions. Must have been two years ago because I played there the year before last. I've been really busy and have only been to Atlantic City since, though. What a disaster. Now I have no idea where I'll stay for my next trip. Macau, maybe.
I think they've gotten rid of the bigger tables cause the Asians like midi better. The main reason being that they get to look at the banker cards even if they don't have the shoe.
For your info Bellagio still has a big table and I think they run it at night, and I know they run it during weekends.
The Rio also has a big table and they told me they open it on weekends.
Wynn has a table for $300 minimum.
Caesars also has a big table. I heard a rumor players could not deal from the shoe, but can only handle the cards like in midi, cannot confirm if this is true or not. The minimum is $100.
Quote: abe3689Caesars also has a big table. I heard a rumor players could not deal from the shoe, but can only handle the cards like in midi, cannot confirm if this is true or not. The minimum is $100.
I was actually thinking that Caesars might be the best bet now. I'm not crazy about the theme there, but they do have good shopping, and their players club covers lots of properties in different locations.
Caesars has 2 big tables. One crew of women, one crew of men (not sure why) $100 min. They got mad when I wanted free hands. And if I was going to take free hands they stopped letting me deal from the shoe. Typical of CET...
If you want to play the big game, Bellagio is really the only decent reliable game left in town. Every other property is Midi.
