What is Baccarat?

Baccarat is a casino game where Players wager that either the Player hand or Banker hand will win. The dealer deals two cards to each hand, which are visible to everyone at the table. The winning hand is the one with a total closest to nine. Cards ace to nine retain their value while tens and picture cards have no value.

Game rules

Baccarat is a simple card game, and the objective is to correctly bet on the winning side. The player and banker each get a set of two cards that are added up to reveal their total values. The side with the value closest to nine wins. Players can also use a variety of betting strategies to increase their odds of winning. These strategies include positive and negative progression systems. Positive progression systems encourage players to increase their bet size after each win. Negative systems, on the other hand, advise players to double their bets after each loss.

There are also side bets that pay out if the Banker or Player hands form a pair. These wagers are marked as B-Pair or P-Pair, respectively. The payouts for these bets are based on the rules chart below.

Bets

Baccarat offers a variety of bets that can help you win. These include the Banker, Player, and Tie bets. The Banker bet pays out 95% of your winning bet, but the casino takes a small taking, or commission, on the game’s profits.

Another baccarat betting strategy is the Paroli System. This strategy involves positive progression and avoids chasing losses. It works by establishing a wagering unit and increasing it with each win. This is done until the win profit reaches +1 wagering unit, at which point the cycle restarts.

The Big Tiger, Small Tiger, and Tiger Pair side bets are also available in some Las Vegas casinos. These bets pay out if either the Banker or the Player hand has a pair of cards that totals eight.

Payouts

When you play baccarat online, it’s important to understand how payouts and odds work. For example, the Banker hand has a lower house edge than the Player bet, but the casino charges a 5% commission on winning banker bets.

The best way to maximize your potential payouts is to follow a strategy like reverse Martingale or D’Alembert. Both of these strategies involve increasing your wager size by a certain amount after each loss and decreasing it after each win.

There are also several side bets with specific payouts. For instance, the Double-suited 3-card 8 pays 200:1. Another is the Tie, which pays based on the poker value of the first two cards. Both of these side bets are offered in EZ Baccarat, but not other versions of the game.

Variations

There are a number of baccarat variants available online, from the classic Punto Banco to the captivating Chemin de Fer. Each variation offers its own unique set of rules and payouts. Players can also choose from a variety of side bets, including Banker Pair and Player Pair. The maximum total for a hand is nine. If a hand goes over nine, the player must subtract ten or drop the first numeral to reach its final value.

If you want to improve your long-term winnings, try using the Paroli system, which works like a reverse Martingale strategy. You start with an initial wager unit and increase it by 1 each time you win. If you lose, you return to your original bet size. EZ Baccarat is another popular variant with low house commissions and lucrative side bets like Dragon 7 and Panda 8. These bets pay 40:1 and 25:1, respectively.

Origins

The game has been around for centuries, and remains one of the most popular casino games in many countries. It is also featured in many films, including the classic James Bond movie Casino Royale, where Bond plays against Le Chiffre.

Historians believe that the game was invented in Italy by a croupier and tarot card reader named Felix Falguiere in 15th-century Rome. He christened it baccarat, which means zero in Italian, because tens, jacks, and queens have value of zero in the game.

In the 1800s, baccarat spread to France where it became known as baccarat en banque and later chemin de fer (Chemmy). Baccarat quickly gained popularity among the French aristocracy.