Baccarat is the card game that conjures images of swanky casinos and high-rollers in tuxedos, laying down their chips as the dealer distributes cards. But despite its mystique, baccarat is actually one of the easiest casino games to play. It’s a simple matter of betting on either the Player, Banker or Tie, and you can get started right away. The most important tip to win at baccarat is knowing when to bet and when not to. It’s essential to understand the game’s rules and payouts before you begin playing, so that you can avoid making costly mistakes.
Baccarat pays out based entirely on the wager you make. A player bet pays even-money, while a banker bet offers a much higher return. However, the odds on a tie bet are quite long, which makes it a risky wager for some players.
To make a winning bet, you must correctly predict which of the three hands will have the closest total to nine. The Player hand and the Banker hand are dealt two cards each, while a third card may be given to either hand or neither. The hand with the highest value wins, but you must remember that tens, jacks, and queens count as zero, while aces count as one.
It’s also important to know when it’s necessary to draw a card in baccarat, and how this is determined. Generally, the player should draw only when the dealer has an 8 or 9. However, this rule is not always followed, and some players will draw whenever they have a seven or six. This is not a good strategy because you will lose money if the Banker wins and you have lost your bet.
In addition to a dazzling range of lighting fixtures and monumental structures for exhibitions and royalty across the globe, 19th Century Baccarat is famed for its iconic glassware. Its milky ‘opaline’ glass vases, which often featured hand-painted floral decorations, closely resembled fine porcelain, and were hugely popular with Victorian collectors.
The firm astonished contemporary observers in 1855 with its 17.5 foot (5 metres) tall candelabra at Paris’ Exposition Universelle, and it again impressed audiences in 1867 with its ‘Jusivy’ table service, made for the Emperor of Russia. Sadly, this stunning set never reached Russia, but many of the original 19th Century pieces that did can be found in museums and luxury hotels around the world today.
According to Bill Zender, a former Nevada Gaming Control Agent and casino executive who literally wrote the book on managing casino games, baccarat is currently enjoying an increase in popularity thanks to Asian high rollers. The game is a great choice for them because it’s easy to learn and fun to play, and it doesn’t require sophisticated betting strategies like those used by James Bond. In fact, Baccarat is the most accessible of all casino games to learn.