Baccarat is a casino game in which players place wagers on whether a hand will win or lose. It’s a great game to play with friends or family, and it’s also an excellent choice for beginners because the rules are straightforward. You can find free baccarat games online to practice your strategy and improve your odds of winning real money bets.

To start playing Baccarat, you need to decide which of the three betting options you want to make a wager on. You can choose to bet on the Player, the Banker or a Tie. Once you’ve made your bet, the dealer deals two cards to the Banker and the Player. The objective is to get a total closer to nine than the opposite hand. If a total is below 9, the first digit is dropped. For example, a seven and a six would result in a 15. To determine the winner, a scorecard is drawn after the hands have been dealt.

When the cards have been dealt, the players and the banker compare their scores. The hand with the highest number wins. If the Player and the Banker have the same score, it’s a tie and no further cards are drawn. If the score is eight or nine, it’s a ‘natural’ and no third card is drawn. If the score is 0 or 5, the Player will stand; if it’s 6 or 7, the Banker will draw a third card; and if the score is 0-4, the Banker will stay.

You can also choose to bet on a ‘Super Six’. This is a side bet that you win if the Banker hand wins with a score of 6. It’s possible to win up to 12 times your stake.

Another popular bet is the ‘Pair’ bet. This is a side bet that pays out when the Banker and Player pair of cards are identical. The payout on a winning pair bet is usually around 11x your bet amount.

Baccarat’s first head was the bishop of Orleans, Louis-Joseph de Laval-Montmorency. He wanted to found a prestigious artistic workshop in his diocese and initially Baccarat produced windows, mirrors and items of tableware. Its reputation grew after its display at the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle.

The company has continued to grow in size and success over the years. It now employs about 900 people and produces high-quality crystal, glassware and other goods. The company’s glass is prized for its prismatic lustre, which makes it shine and change colour when viewed from different angles.

In order to create a piece of Baccarat glass, the raw ingredients are heated together in a furnace that reaches temperatures of up to 1500 degrees Celsius. After the molten glass is formed, it can be blown or pulled into a shape, or it can be etched with patterns. Engraving can be done with a copper grindstone or acid. Acid engraving involves covering the surface of the glass in bitumen, a tough tar-like material. Then the glass is dipped in acid, which cuts away at the uncovered parts of the design.