Baccarat is an exotic casino game which conjures images of high society and wealth. Played on large tables in discreet areas secluded from other games, players dress to impress and minimum bets are quite high – this has drawn in celebrity such as Pierce Brosnan (James Bond from Dr. No; Thunderball; On Her Majesty’s Secret Service For Your Eyes Only and GoldenEye films).

Goal of the game: When placing bets on either player or banker hands, the objective is for them to come as close to nine points as possible. Points are determined by adding up all pips (the dots forming clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades) on each card plus the ace; picture cards and the ten are worth zero points while cards from 2-9 have their face values and an ace counts as one; once sum of pips reaches double figures then an additional number will be added in.

An ordinary game of baccarat provides each player with the choice between betting on either the Player’s hand, Banker’s hand or a tie – each bet offers its own odds with Banker’s usually having the edge in terms of probability. Furthermore, side bets offer players another way of potentially making extra money through this casino game.

At each baccarat table, a banker is appointed whose job it is to accept bets and pay out winning ones. The house edge for betting on the banker is just under 1 percent while that for betting on players is slightly higher (1.3 percent). Furthermore, there is also an optional third bet available: one on a tie that pays eight-to-1 but carries an impressive 14 percent house edge.

At first, baccarat games required score cards and pencils to record results of each hand. Over time this evolved into the use of a ‘bead plate’ with six rows containing cubes that indicated player, banker or tie statuses; more recently many tables are equipped with electronic displays which display this data plus much more!

Baccarat has become so beloved, it has inspired various variations and extra ways of betting and playing it. There is now mini baccarat, televised baccarat and online baccarat available.

Baccarat is an accessible casino game to learn and can provide hours of fun for groups of players. It is not as complex to set up than some other casino games, with its low 1% edge on both Player and Banker bets making it very competitive with blackjack, full pay video poker and craps – not to mention more social than roulette or slots, with more likely chances at success than slot machines – making baccarat popular among high rollers as it requires patience rather than speed to be successful! There are a few tips for playing baccarat; the most important advice being: be patient!