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Baccarat is one of only a few casino games giving the player slightly under an even break. Along with Blackjack, Baccarat is one of the most profitable games a customer can play. The house edges only 1.17 percent per bet on a banker hand and 1.36 percent per bet on a player hand.

History

Throughout its tenure, Baccarat has been primarily a high-roller’s game. Only a few players have mastered the game as it’s been kept under wraps to the average customer. In general, the lowest current minimum bid at a Baccarat table is $20.

Baccarat derives from the Italian word, baccara meaning zero which is the point value of all face cards. Baccarat was originally developed from the European game Chemin de Fer. Traced back to 1490, Baccarat was the favorite game among the elite.

Modern Baccarat comes primarily from the game Chemin de Fer as there are many similarities. One difference is that customers play and bet against each other and not specifically against the house. The casino makes money by taking a percentage from the player that’s holding the bank.

Chemin de Fer was actually offered in Last Vegas casino’s during the late 1950’s but was replaced by Baccarat after only a year. This original variant is still available in many European casinos. Although the standard version of Baccarat is played with 14 players, in the 1980’s mini games popped up with 7 players on a Blackjack-sized table.

The Basics

A full table consists of 14 players with 3 dealers in a separated area and 8 decks of cards. The dealers don’t actually distribute the cards. Instead, they simply pass the shoe that holds decks. Each player slides out the cards to one another. A single dealer, known as the “callman” stands up and turns all cards face up after they are dealt.

The callman calls out the point totals of each hand and announces whether different hands can acquire another card. The other dealers remain seated and pay out the winning bets and collect chips from the losing hands. Each seat is numbered indicating where to play the banker bet and where to place the player bet.
Advantages

Due to the nature of the game, Blackjack and video poker players with decent skills and a basic strategy tend to do well. Although average Baccarat are at less of a disadvantage than Blackjack or video poker players, the game doesn’t have any playing strategies that need to be mastered in order to become successful.

Baccarat is one of the least-known games with the best chances for winning. Although mini-Baccarat isn’t currently seen often in casinos, its fast-pace and payout may result in its overall return.

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.