Baccarat – A Game For High Rollers

From sticky-floor California card rooms to tuxedo-laden casinos in Monaco, baccarat is one of the world’s most popular casino games. The game’s history dates back to Italy and France, but it has gained immense popularity in the past thirty years, particularly among Asian high rollers. According to Bill Zender, a former Nevada Gaming Control Agent and casino executive who literally wrote the book on managing casino games, baccarat has become more and more popular because it is culturally appropriate for high-rollers.

A baccarat table has anywhere from seven to 14 seats for players and a dealer’s area. During the game, a banker and player are dealt two cards each. The player and banker hands are compared and whichever hand has a total closest to nine wins the round. If a third card is drawn, the winner is determined by the hand with the highest value when all of the pips are added up (the points on a card representing clubs, diamonds, spades, and hearts).

The game can be played in many different ways, depending on what type of bet you’re making. You can place a bet on the banker, the player, or a tie. Generally, betting against the bank results in a slightly higher payout than betting on the player or tie, because the house pays out a small commission on winning bets.

Regardless of what bet you’re making, you should understand the rules of baccarat before you begin playing. Each baccarat round begins when the dealer passes two cards face up to the player and banker areas. The players, also known as participants, then choose which hand they want to bet on by placing their chips in the corresponding boxes. The game is then played out according to set rules.

There are also a variety of side bets available for baccarat, including Super Six and Pair Bets. The payout for a winning Super Six bet is 12x the bet amount, and a winning Pair Bet pays out at 9:1 your original bet amount. However, these bets are risky and can quickly drain your bankroll if you lose. Therefore, if you choose to make them, be sure to have a large enough bankroll to withstand a series of losses.

The Martingale system is a betting strategy that involves increasing your bet size after every loss, with the hope that a win will eventually recoup all of your previous losses and leave you with a profit equal to your original bet. However, this is a risky strategy that only works if you have the discipline to stick with it. Otherwise, it can quickly deplete your bankroll and make you ineligible to play baccarat.