
Baccarat is a card game where players wager on which hand will win the round. The cards are dealt from a six- or eight-card shoe and the winner is determined by which hand comes closest to nine. The game is so popular that Macau casinos have dethroned Vegas as the world’s biggest gambling destination & it now accounts for more than 18 percent of total casino revenue worldwide.
Baccarat has a relatively low minimum bet ($20-$25) but the payouts on winning Player or Banker bets are quite high. It’s a game for high rollers who are willing to play for hours, letting their money change hands many times over.
The rules of Baccarat are simple, but they get a bit complicated as the game progresses. The essential objective is to pick the hand that will come closest to nine. The player & banker each place a bet before the cards are dealt. After all the bets are in, the dealer calls “no more bets” & then deals one card to the Player box & one to the Banker box.
The maximum value a hand can have is nine, but there are some special rules for totals that exceed this number. When a total goes above nine, you must subtract ten from the first digit or drop it to get the true value of the hand. For example, if a hand has six and an eight, it’s a nine, but if it had seven and an eight, it would be 15. A score sheet is usually available at live baccarat tables to help you keep track of your winnings and losses. The game also features a variety of side bets, which can have large payouts but have lower odds of landing or a high house edge.