Baccarat is that enigmatic casino game you see in James Bond movies, a table game where high rollers gather in opulent casinos to play with elegance and sophistication. In fact, baccarat is the most popular casino game in the world, driving revenue for casinos in places like Macau and Singapore.
But baccarat isn’t as complex as it may seem, and it can be learned by any player willing to take the time to study the rules and strategies. With the right amount of patience and practice, you’ll soon be enjoying this thrilling card game for real.
A favored game of aristocrats, Baccarat is often found in the big-money sections of European and Nevada casinos. Unlike most casino games, it doesn’t require any special skills to play, and players can choose between betting on the Banker or Player hand. The object is to make the winning hand closest to nine. All cards are dealt face up, and the final digit is determined by adding up all the pips (the dots on the cards representing clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades) to find a total of 9 or closest to 9. Aces count as zero, and other cards are worth their pip value.
There are three possible outcomes to a round: a Banker win, a Player win, and a tie. In addition, the majority of baccarat tables offer the Tie bet, which is a wager that both the Banker and Player hands will result in the same outcome. Typically, the house edge for the Player and Banker bets is around 1 percent. The Tie bet, however, offers a much higher house edge of over 14 percent.
While many players prefer to bet on either the Banker or the Player, the game can also be very lucrative for those who bet on the tie. The odds of a tie are 8 to 1, making it one of the best bets in the casino. This bet is very popular among high-rollers, who often place bets in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per hand.
Baccarat’s popularity has not been affected by the global recession or changing demographics, and Snow believes it has staying power. “You will still have high-limit action, and the game continues to generate the highest revenue of any casino table game,” he says. He cites the cultural reasons, as well as the fact that baccarat has one of the lowest hold percentages in the casino.
The commission-free baccarat game introduced at G2E 2019 was another step forward for the classic table game. This innovation allows dealers to focus on the game and their players rather than constantly adjusting chips and making change. It also helps to eliminate confusion over the different types of bets that are available, and it enables players to make their bets faster. This allows the game to move faster and increase revenue. In addition to this, the new system can link all the table games in a casino and share a single progressive jackpot-another first.
