In Punto Banco, the main goal for the player is to guess what his opponents are up to. That’s why the game relies heavily on psychology and psychology-like strategies. The rules are fairly simple but the actual playing involves a lot of bluffing and other tactics.
At the start of the game, the player must place a bet. Then, the game is divided into two parts: the Punto, or the Player’s game, and Banca, or the Banker’s game. The players can place their bets either on the Punto side or the Banca side.
After the bets are placed, the game proceeds with the dealing of the cards. 2 cards are dealt to each player and the Banker. If either the Punto or the Banca gets 8 or 9 out of the first two cards, no further cards are drawn and the one with the higher Total points wins. If the Total points are the same, a tie is declared and no one wins.
The Player's Total points are calculated by adding all the card values together and disregarding the tenth digit of the result. The Banker's Total points are calculated the same way, with the exception of two special rules that apply to the Banker only.
After the points are calculated, the player with the lower Total points draws for a third card. The player with the higher Total points does not draw for a third card, unless they have 0 points. If the Player has 0 points, the banker draws for a third card. The winner of the game is the one with the higher Total points.