Baccarat Casino Game

Baccarat, while it may not get the mentions that other games at land-based and online casinos such as blackjack and roulette do, remains a popular choice with punters. And you could suggest that a lot of baccarat’s popularity is thanks to the James Bond franchise, with 007s favourite version of the game Chemin de fer.

By all accounts, Baccarat is a game played behind closed doors, as they say, in France before it became legal to gamble in casinos in 1907. And from there, it quickly gained popularity, thanks to the three-person form of Baccarat Banque, and the two-player version Chemin de fer, as mentioned above.

From there, Baccarat quickly became a game that everyone around the world heard of and started to play, and now it’s a popular choice at land-based venues in the US primarily and, of course, at online casinos. From 2012 onwards, the revenue generated by baccarat in the US has increased dramatically.

As you will expect, baccarat is now played by most either online or on mobile. And it’s a game that suits both, which helps to make it even more popular and appealing to the mass market. In addition, most of the top online casinos will have multiple baccarat games available in AI and Live formats.

Gameplay

In Baccarat, the dealer will provide the players with two cards each that will come to them face up, with the aim of the game to secure the hand closest to nine. The player will be placing bets on the hand they believe will come out trumps. They can choose to bet on the player hand or the banker’s.

If you bet on the player’s hand, and the dots on the cards add up and are closest to nine than any other hand in play, the returns will be double the stake, which is excellent. Betting on the banker’s hand is slightly different because the payout will only be worth 95% of the wager.

With the aim being to secure a hand worth as close to nine as possible, if a player’s hand has a value of 0-5, or 10, a third card will be drawn. However, a player’s hand that is worth between 6 and 7 will result in a stand, and no third card will be picked. And the same applies to hands worth 8 or 9. Things will work slightly differently for the banker/dealer, but they will control the action in relation to their hand.

Best Casinos To Play Baccarat

The first port of call for online casino operators where table and card games are concerned will, of course, be blackjack and roulette. However, they can’t have a complete offering with just these two games. So, the excellent news is that baccarat will always have a place in a games catalogue.

Unlike Video Slots, for example, it will never come down to which games are best or most popular, as baccarat is a base game that the content is built around. So, you can expect to see multiple versions of baccarat available at all the top online casinos, and you can even play live and interactive in real-time.

The best bonus casinos will also be made to work across all devices, and Baccarat is for sure an excellent choice for gamers who prefer consuming their content on the go on their smartphones. You will never find compatibility issues with baccarat titles, be it in-browser or if they’re played on bespoke apps.

Many of them are geared towards slots, and a lot gets said about online casinos and their bonuses. But, there are plenty of opportunities for fans of baccarat and other table games to grab some value for money. For example, there are usually free chip bonuses that can be used on these types of games.

Baccarat is a fun game, and it is often described as the safest to play. It’s debatable whether it is as enjoyable as some of the other types of games available to play at online casinos.

Still, it’s a solid offering with multiple versions and the opportunity to play in real-time.

What also adds to the appeal of baccarat is that it’s made popular by James Bond in many respects, and is there anything cooler than this?

You can play the Chemin de fer and act like you’re 007. Of course, we’re here for all that, and we might even don our best tuxedo just to feel more like a secret agent.

Baccarat Rules

As we mentioned earlier, when betting on baccarat, you are opting to bet in favour of the player having a better hand or the banker. Therefore, it makes sense that all the betting action takes place before the game begins. Two cards will be dealt to those in play face up when it starts.

The objective is to bet on the hand that will produce a value that is closest to nine. So, punters will either back the banker or player or put money on a tie. During the game, tens and picture cards are worth zero, an ace is worth one, and the other cards are worth their face value.

If a player has a hand that is worth more than nine, a score adjustment will occur, with ten being removed from the current hand value. The most cards a hand will contain is three, and the drawing of the third card will always be determined by the value of the hand when it includes two.

A correct wager on a player hand is worth double the stake, while the same on a bankers is worth 95% because of the 5% commission. You can bet on a tie, and if this result comes to fruition, the result is a payout of 8/1.

Baccarat Tips

We can give you many tips if you plan to play baccarat, especially if you are choosing to play online. The first major one is to completely disregard the tie bet, as you’re weakening your position from the off due to the house edge potentially exceeding 14%. Instead, the best bet is to go with the banker option, even though there is a 5% commission to pay.

Baccarat is a game of luck, that is for sure, but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch for things such as streaks. If you see a bank get into a winning streak, your best option is to join it, but don’t be too aggressive.

When the bank eventually loses, because it will, take up your position of watching for a streak with the bank again and then resume betting.

If you’re following and studying streaks, which we recommend you do, don’t take tie results into account. Only monitor streaks from the bank or the player. And finally, you should always head into games of baccarat with a staking strategy in mind. The best thing you can do is stick to it, even if you happen to be on a winning streak.

Why Baccarat Is So Popular?

Baccarat is popular primarily because it has been around for a long time. As we mentioned earlier, this is a game that predates casinos and was often played in France in back rooms before it became legal to play and gamble at casinos. And let’s not forget, unlike many other card games, there happens to be multiple versions of baccarat, which adds to the intrigue and makes it an accessible title.

You also can’t deny that baccarat’s popularity has been helped along the way by outside forces.

For example, the 1964 comedy A Hard Day’s Night featured Baccarat, and The Beatles, which says everything you need to know. And, who can forget that James Bond’s favourite game is Chemin de fer, a version of baccarat?

If you said that Blackjack and a couple of other casino table games are more popular than Baccarat, you’d probably be right. However, that also presented the opportunity for baccarat to also become the game many punters turn to when they want a change of scenery.

It’s led it to being a fan favourite and sought after, especially at online and mobile casinos and in live and AI guises.