On the Subject of Baccarat

Baccarat may be a favorite table game among high rollers, but I’ll bet none of them have ever played for stakes as high as this.

• This module resembles a baccarat table with a deck of cards and a placard indicating table limits.
• The color of the backs of the cards and the table limits can vary from module to module.
• To disarm this module, play one round in such a way that results in a net gain of money. A net loss of money will result in a strike. Breaking even will neither disarm the module nor cause a strike.

Baccarat Rules

Baccarat is played with a standard 52-card deck. The objective of the game is to predict which of two hands, the Player or the Banker, will have a higher total.

Play begins with the defuser betting on either the Player or the Banker, with optional side bets for Tie, Player Pair, and Banker Pair. After all bets are placed, each hand receives two cards. Cards are dealt one at a time, starting with the Player and alternating between hands thereafter.

At this point, if either hand has a total of 8 or 9, the round ends immediately and all bets are resolved. Otherwise, both the Player and the Banker are given an option to draw a third card, and then all bets are resolved.

The Player is given the option to draw first. If the Player’s total is 5 or less, they draw a third card. With a total of 6 or 7, the Player stands with two cards.

The Banker decides after the Player makes their choice. If the Player stood with two cards, the Banker draws a third card with a total of 5 or less and stands with a total of 6 or 7. Otherwise, the Banker acts in accordance with the table below:

If the Banker’s total is...	...then the Banker draws a third card...
7	never.
6	if the Player’s third card is a 6 or 7.
5	if the Player’s third card is a 4, 5, 6, or 7.
4	if the Player’s third card is a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7.
3	if the Player’s third card is not an 8.
2 or less	always.

Notes on Betting

To place a bet, place one or more chips into the appropriately marked location. Long-press a betting area to remove your bet. The bottom-left corner of the module shows which denomination is currently active. Use the arrow buttons to switch denominations. When you’re done, gesture at the deck to begin the deal.

You must place a bet on the Player or the Banker, but not both at the same time. This bet must also adhere to the posted table limits. (The limits for the Tie, Player Pair, and Banker Pair side bets are one-tenth of the posted limits.) Attempting to start a deal with an invalid bet will result in a strike.

When placing a bet with multiple denominations of chips, they must be ordered by value, with the largest on the bottom and the smallest on top. Attempting to start a deal while breaking this rule will not interrupt play, but the dealer will first reorder your chips and then reprimand you by issuing a strike.

Notes on the Deck

Normally, each round of Baccarat is dealt from the same deck. However, if there are fewer than half the cards left in the deck at the end of a round, it will be swapped out for a new deck of a different color. See the next page for important information on the order of cards in each deck.

Valuation of Hands

Every card has a point value. Aces are worth one point, tens and face cards are worth zero points, and all other cards are worth their face value. The total score of a hand is the rightmost digit of the sum of its cards’ point values.

Payouts

The payouts of each bet are as follows:

• If the Player has the higher total, the Player bet pays even money, while the Banker bet loses.
• If the Banker has the higher total, the Banker bet pays 19 to 20 (equivalent to even money less a 5% commission to the house), while the Player bet loses.
• If the Player and Banker tie, then the Player and Banker bets push, while the Tie bet pays 8 to 1. The Tie bet loses in all other circumstances.
• The Player Pair bet pays 11 to 1 if the Player’s original two cards have the same rank and loses otherwise. The Banker Pair bet behaves similarly for the Banker’s original two cards.

The Order of the Cards

Define a card’s index to be its position in a brand new, unshuffled pack of cards: ace through king of hearts, then ace through king of clubs, then king through ace of diamonds, then king through ace of spades. For example, the ace of hearts, seven of clubs, and ace of spades have indices of 1, 20, and 52 respectively.

To determine a deck’s first card, use the following two tables and the posted table limits to obtain a letter and a digit from the bomb’s serial number. Take the alphabetic position of the obtained letter, plus 26 times the obtained digit, plus the number of solved modules at the time the deck first appeared on this module. Subtract 52 until within the range 1–52. This is the first card’s index.

Minimum	Use this letter*
$5	First
$10	Second
$25	Second to last
$50	Last
$100	Sum of all**

Maximum/Minimum	Use this digit*
ratio ≤ 50	First
50 < ratio ≤ 100	Second
100 < ratio ≤ 200	Second to last
200 < ratio ≤ 500	Last
ratio > 500	Sum of all, modulo 10**

*If the serial number only contains a single letter or digit, use that letter or digit as needed. If the serial number contains no letters, use “B” instead. If the serial number contains no digits, use “9” instead.
**The “sum” of multiple letters is calculated by adding up their alphabetic positions, subtracting 26 until within the range 1–26, and converting back into a letter. Note that the result of a “sum” operation may result in a letter or digit not present in the serial number. This is fine; use it regardless.

To determine a card’s successor, multiply its index by the appropriate value from the table below. The result, taken modulo 53, is the next card’s index.

Deck color ⇓ ⇓	Most common vanilla port***
	DVI-D	Parallel	PS/2	RJ-45	Serial	Stereo RCA
Red	20	33	26	41	12	31
Blue	18	2	50	22	34	8
Green	39	27	35	3	19	45
Silver	5	48	14	51	32	21

***In the event of a tie, take the sum of the relevant columns’ positions (numbered 1 to 6 in reading order), subtract 6 until within the range 1–6, and use that column. A bomb with no ports counts as a six-way tie.

Exception: If the bomb has a lit indicator with label BOB and exactly 8 or 9 ports, then the deck is actually in the unshuffled order at the top of this page.