Baccarat is no longer just for the big Las Vegas gamblers, nor is it played only in private rooms. The sensation of feeling like James Bond can be felt from home, just by entering an online casino and trying your luck. However, many of the important online Baccarat games are played in private rooms as well. Sometimes it is necessary to earn entry to the most serious games of one of the most popular casino games in the world.

But beware! Baccarat is the kind of addictive game where luck has to smile on you that day if you want to win a fortune in just one night of fun. Otherwise, you could lose everything…

Baccarat Fundamentals

Baccarat is a simple game that consists of a battle for the highest card value between the player and the House, known as the bank. Two cards are dealt face down to the player, and two to the bank. The intervention is that the player can then make three types of bets: bet on the player, on the bank, or on a tie. If you bet on the bank, even though the value of the player’s cards is lower, you win money by betting.

However, Baccarat differs from all other card games by its scoring system, where the value of the hands is counted as the sum of both cards minus the left digit, where 9 is the highest sum you can get, known as a “natural”. That’s why in this game, a 9 is higher than a 13, because this last number would only be worth as if it were a 3.

Although it is a game based on mere luck, Baccarat variations include a slightly more complex system, where a certain level of strategy is required.

Bets and payments in Baccarat

There are three types of bets that are made in a Baccarat casino game: you can bet that the value of the player’s hand is higher, that of the bank is higher, or that it is a tie. If the player bets on himself, he will win if his hand is higher than the bank’s, and if he bets on the bank, he will win if his hand is lower than the bank’s. If the player bets on the bank, he will win if his hand is lower than the bank’s hand.

In the case of a tie, if the player did not bet on it, the rules differ according to the casino. In some, the house wins, while in others a “push” occurs, and the amounts are returned to each player.

Normally, you pay 1:1 in Baccarat. In other words, the player receives double the bet amount if he wins. In case of betting on the bank and winning, the casino is left with a 5% commission, leaving 95% of the winnings to the player. Betting on a tie, although not recommended for the improbability of this result, pays a total of 8:1 (9:1 in some casinos), being one of the highest wins in the world of table games.

What does a good Baccarat player think about?

As a popular Baccarat player, known as Punto banco, it is important to understand that this is the kind of game where luck plays a more important role than strategy, which can be more relaxing at times, even if the player has no way to predict the results or intervene in his favor.

However, a good Baccarat player knows how much to bet, and which of the three bets to take, and knows that the tie is very risky, although he can afford those risks if he has the money to do so. He also takes into account that the house takes 5% commission if he bets on the bank, so he prefers to bet on himself to avoid that small drain of money.

The origins of Baccarat

There are games that take their name for the best value to get, as in the versions where they call 21 to Blackjack, or the name of Pai Gow which means “make nine” for being the best possible move. The case of Baccarat is quite the opposite, meaning the worst possible move, which is “0”.

Its history is a debate between whether it was created in Italy or in France. The most accepted version is that it is born out of the war between these two countries, where the French soldiers brought home that game of war, and that it soon spread among the most important provinces of France.

Since then, it has evolved over the years, acquiring its rules and types of bets, to appear on the big screen as one of the favorite games of James Bond movies. And, curiously, the version played in the series of British espionage films comes from the French version, Fer’s Baccarat Chemin.