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While most casinos only offer one kind of baccarat game, the truth is that there are at least three common variations – Chemin de Fer, banque and punto banco – plus a scaled-down version of punto banco called mini baccarat. At first glance, most amateurs won’t be able to tell the difference between these different baccarat games, but there are a few minute but crucial rule changes from one to the next.

In a live casino, location will likely determine which baccarat game you find in your local casino. Chemin de Fer, as you might have inferred from its name, is most popular in France. Baccarat banque is the baccarat choice in the remainder of Europe, and punto banco is favored by North American and Australian players. When playing baccarat online, you may be able to find more than one version of the game at an Internet casino, but it’s more likely that the site will choose the variation that’s most popular with its target audience.

Though many baccarat players are loyal to the game they know and have learned to love, many punto banco players are oblivious to the fact that when it comes to odds their preferred game is at a disadvantage to baccarat banque and Chemin de Fer. That’s because the latter two variations allow players not only to choose their hand but to intervene to a certain point.

For example, in punto banco two hands are dealt – the Player and the Banker hand. (On a side note, this is where the game gets its name.) Players may bet on either of these hands or on a Tie, but they have no control over how the hands are managed. The casino dealer will hit or stand according to house rules. Under punto banco rules, players have no way of impacting the odds.

By contrast, in Chemin de Fer the dealer/banker position rotates around the table every time a banker loses with the remaining punters representing the player hand. It is this circuitous way of dealing that earned the game its name, since “chemin de fer” loosely translates as “railroad.” Players ultimately decide whether to hit or stand, and the house does not intervene.

In baccarat banque, a player buys the right to sit in the central dealer/banker position. In this variation, hands are always dealt from a multi-deck shoe. In baccarat banque, two player hands are dealt – one to the right side of the banker and one to the left. The hand rules are the same as Chemin de Fer, but the banker may hold their position until the shoe has been exhausted so long as they have the funds to do so.