Baccarat – A Game For All Occasions
Baccarat is often associated with elegance and high stakes, but it is a game that can be enjoyed by players of all bankroll sizes. While it is true that the game’s history dates back to the gambling salons of Italy and France, in recent years it has become the favorite of many Asian casino-goers. The game’s rise in popularity has generated a number of different variations on the game, as well as several ways for players to place bets and win big.
In its basic form, baccarat is a game of choice between a player and the dealer. Each hand is dealt two cards face up, visible to everyone at the table. The winner is the hand that totals closest to nine points. All cards are worth their face value except for tens and kings, which count as zero. A nine is always a winning hand, but there are also bets on tie, and if the player and banker both have 9’s, then they share the win. In the past, baccarat was played differently than it is today, with four dealers and bets placed against other players as well as the house. Nowadays, there is usually one dealer, and most bets are made against the banker’s hand only. The house takes a 5% commission on all winning bets on the banker’s hand, and this is how it makes money from the game.
Baccarat has a long and varied history, from its invention in the 1500s to its eventual spread to Europe, where it became popular among the French royalty as Chemin de Fer (Chemin du Ferrière). While it is not clear exactly how the game was invented, some believe that Felix Falguiere’s version of baccarat drew from Etruscan games of life or death, where drawing a card lower than a six meant death. Others suggest that the game was derived from tarot cards, as Falguiere was a tarot fanatic.
As the popularity of baccarat grew, casinos in Asia began to embrace the game, with Macau casinos now making more than 88 percent of their revenue from baccarat. Likewise, baccarat has grown in popularity in Singapore and the Las Vegas Strip. The game is the single most lucrative game for casino operators, making up about 18 percent of overall slot machine revenue on the Strip.
Bill Zender, a former Nevada Gaming Control Agent and casino dealer who literally wrote the book on managing casino games, has seen baccarat grow in popularity for a variety of reasons. He cites cultural differences and the fact that the game is relatively simple to understand for its appeal to high rollers.
Another reason is the low hold percentage, which is about 1.2 percent on both Player and Banker bets. There is a third bet, Tie, which pays off eight to one but has a higher house edge of over 14 percent. As a result, most serious players stick to player or banker bets and avoid the third bet.
Baccarat is often associated with elegance and high stakes, but it is a game that can be enjoyed by players of all bankroll sizes. While it is true that the game’s history dates back to the gambling salons of Italy and France, in recent years it has become the favorite of many Asian casino-goers. The game’s rise in popularity has generated a number of different variations on the game, as well as several ways for players to place bets and win big. In its basic form, baccarat is a game of choice between a player and the dealer. Each hand is dealt two cards face up, visible to everyone at the table. The winner is the hand that totals closest to nine points. All cards are worth their face value except for tens and kings, which count as zero. A nine is always a winning hand, but there are also bets on tie, and if the player and banker both have 9’s, then they share the win. In the past, baccarat was played differently than it is today, with four dealers and bets placed against other players as well as the house. Nowadays, there is usually one dealer, and most bets are made against the banker’s hand only. The house takes a 5% commission on all winning bets on the banker’s hand, and this is how it makes money from the game. Baccarat has a long and varied history, from its invention in the 1500s to its eventual spread to Europe, where it became popular among the French royalty as Chemin de Fer (Chemin du Ferrière). While it is not clear exactly how the game was invented, some believe that Felix Falguiere’s version of baccarat drew from Etruscan games of life or death, where drawing a card lower than a six meant death. Others suggest that the game was derived from tarot cards, as Falguiere was a tarot fanatic. As the popularity of baccarat grew, casinos in Asia began to embrace the game, with Macau casinos now making more than 88 percent of their revenue from baccarat. Likewise, baccarat has grown in popularity in Singapore and the Las Vegas Strip. The game is the single most lucrative game for casino operators, making up about 18 percent of overall slot machine revenue on the Strip. Bill Zender, a former Nevada Gaming Control Agent and casino dealer who literally wrote the book on managing casino games, has seen baccarat grow in popularity for a variety of reasons. He cites cultural differences and the fact that the game is relatively simple to understand for its appeal to high rollers. Another reason is the low hold percentage, which is about 1.2 percent on both Player and Banker bets. There is a third bet, Tie, which pays off eight to one but has a higher house edge of over 14 percent. As a result, most serious players stick to player or banker bets and avoid the third bet.