Baccarat is believed to have arrived in France from Italy in the early fifteenth century. In Italian, the word “baccarat” means zero, referring to the fact that all face cards and tens are assigned the value of zero in baccarat. The game became popular all over Europe over the course of five centuries. French aristocrats were, in particular, very fond of it. While a baccarat variant called Punto Banco became very popular in England, Chemin De Fer became popular in Europe. The variant of baccarat that became popular in the rest of the world is Punto Banco.

Rules

In case of baccarat, the Player and the Banker get two hands each, and players need to bet that the Bankers hand will win or the Players hand will win or that the game will result in a tie. The winning hand is the one that is closest to point value 9. All cards are assigned values between 0 and 9. While all cards from deuces to nines are taken at face value, all tens and face cards are assigned the value of zero.

If any of the hands dealt to the Banker and the Player equal point value 8 or 9, the game comes to an end and the winning hand gets the prize. In case this doesn’t happen, the game continues on the basis of certain rules. Players cannot request another card if their hand equals point value 6, but they can draw a fresh card if the value of their hand is lower than 5. Bankers can draw cards only if their hands are equal to 0, 1, or 2.

Winning bets placed on Bankers and Players will get even money, but players will have to pay a 5% commission to the house. Winning bets on ties pay 8 – 1.

Types of Baccarat

The variant of baccarat that is widely played today is American Baccarat, but different variants of the game are played in other countries. Although their names and rules vary slightly, the aim is to create a hand of point value 9 or as close to it as possible. Baccarat games vary with regard to who can be allowed to play as the Banker, how the cards can be drawn, and others. Some of the commonly played variants of baccarat are European Baccarat, Baccarat en Banque, Chemin de Fer, and Punto Banco, to mention just a few.