Banca Francesa

What is 'Banca Francesa'

Banca Francesa is a popular, yet simple dice game which has its origins in Portugal. When translated from Portuguese, Banca Francesa simply means French Bank.

'Banca Francesa' Explained

Banca Francesa is played around a semicircle table that players can either sit or stand at. At the bottom end of the table you'll find the tax man 'el fiscal', the payer 'el pagado' and the dealer 'el cavalinho'. Unlike nearly every other dice based casino game, the players never touch the dice. That responsibility falls to the dealer, whereas the tax man and the payer are in charge of collecting and giving out all the betting chips and money that makes its way onto the table.The dealer rolls three dice after shaking them in a leather cup. The dice will determine whether the players win or lose their bet. The three dice then tumble through a tube and out onto the table, and the players discover the outcome of their bet. The rules of betting in Banca Francesa are really simple, in-fact there are only three types of bet that a player can make:Aces or Ases - this is the most unlikely outcome of all three. If a player bets on 'Aces' then they are betting that all three dice will come out of the tube showing a ine for a collective total or three.Small or Pequeno - to win on a small bet, the dice must have a collective total of five, six or seven.Big or Grande - to win on a big bet, the dice need to show a collective total of 14, 15 or 16.If none of the above totals are showing after the dealer rolls, the dealer will continue to roll the dice until one of the totals is achieved. Banca Francesa permits players to change their bets in-between the rolls. Banca Francesa has been gaining in popularity in recent years due to its good payouts. If players win on a big or a small bet, they get a payout of one to one. Players have a 49.2% chance of winning every time they bet on a big or small outcome. Meanwhile, if a player bets on aces the payout is 61 to one. However, it's worth considering that to win on an aces bet, you'll have to significantly beat the odds, considering you only have a 1.6% chance of achieving an aces outcome.