Baccarat - Equipment and Dealers

-Equipment-

Baccarat is played on a large table around which the players are seated. Most baccarat tables are designed to seat fourteen players, although some seat only twelve. Each seating position is numbered on the layout in front of the seat. On a fourteen-player table, the seats are numbered 1 to 15; the number 13 is omitted in deference to superstitious players. The table layout also contains numbered betting spaces corresponding to the seat numbers, so each player may bet in his own space without danger of different players' bets being confused. Similarly, in front of the two dealers are small boxes that are also numbered to correspond to the players' seats. These boxes are used by the dealers to keep track of how much commission each player owe the house.
Baccarat is played with eight decks of cards dealt from a shoe. The cards are shuffled by the dealers but dealt by the players.

-Dealers-

The game is conducted by three dealers. Two of these dealers are seated together at the center of the table. It is their job to collect losing wages, pay off winning wages, and keep a record of the commissions owed by the players in the numbered commision boxes in front of them. Each of these two dealers is responsible for half of the table while the othe dealer takes care of the bets made by seven players on the right side of the table.
Standing on the other side of the table opposite these two dealers is the caller, who supervises the game, announcing the various hands, directing the players in dealing the cards, and announcing the winning hand. Seated off to the side beyond one end of the table on a high chair is the ladder man. He takes no active part in the game. It is his job to oversee the game and protect against irregularities in the same way the floorman does at the othe table games. He is the final judge on any disputes that might develop at the table.

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