Baccarat is an elegant, high-stakes game played by sophisticated players in luxurious casinos. It dates back 500 years to medieval Italy, where it was invented as a card game for the upper class and aristocrats. Its name translates from Italian as “zero,” reflecting its value system: all cards except for ten, ace, and face count as zero. The game’s rules vary slightly from variant to variant, but the general principles remain the same.
In the modern game, players bet on either the Player Hand or the Banker Hand to win. The goal is to have the hand with a total closest to nine, which is calculated by adding up the pips (the dots on a playing card that represent clubs, hearts, diamonds, and spades) without counting the tens. A nine is the best possible score. If neither hand gets a nine, the game ends in a tie. The winning bets are paid, and the losing bets are collected by the dealer. The dealer also takes a 5% commission on winning bets on the Banker Hand, which is how the casino makes money in the game.
A third card is drawn only when the first two hands have a combined total of 8 or 9. If either the Player Hand or the Banker Hand has a total of 9 from the first two cards, this is called a natural and the game is over. If the total is higher than 8, the game continues with a different set of rules.
The Banker and Player hands are dealt from a shoe, and the result of the game is determined by the total value of the two cards that each hand receives. The rules of baccarat are similar to those of blackjack, but the game is played on a larger table with a different layout and with specialized decks. The game has a long history in Europe and is popular in Asia, where it has been played for centuries.
The game is easy to learn and has a low house edge, but there are some things to keep in mind before betting your hard-earned cash. In addition to the traditional bets on player and banker, there is a bet called the tie that pays eight to one, but it has a much higher house edge of over 14 percent. It’s a bet most serious players avoid.