Believe it or not, Baccarat is a very popular casino cardgame. Compared to poker, roulette and slots it’s not exactly an over-achiever, but nonetheless it is the game of choice for stylish and experienced gamblers.

It is believed to have originated from France, in the 15th century, with Faro and Basset as its close relatives.

There are three versions of Baccarat played in casinos world-over: Baccarat Chemin de Fer, Punto Banco baccarat, and Baccarat banque.

In Baccarat, the values of hands are determined by adding up the values of the cards (mind you that 10-K are worth 0, and A is 1) and dropping the first digit if the total value is above 10. Thus 9 is the highest value a hand can have. If you have 6 and 7, the value of that hand would be 13, but by dropping the first digit it’ll be 3.

Baccarat is played with 6 full decks of cards shuffled together. The dealer lets each player shuffle the decks in turn, then he takes a manageable quantity off the top and hands it to the player on his right who will be the banker for the first hand. The other players will be the punters. Basically, these punters will go up against the banker. The banker is the one who decides the amount of money he’s willing to commit, then the punters can either match it or bet a different amount against it.

Four cards are them dealt, 2 for the banker and 2 for the punters represented by the player who bet the highest. Both banker and punter then check their cards. If one of them has an 8 or a 9, the cards are overturned. The one with the best hand wins and the hand is over. If the banker wins, he stays the banker for the next hand if not the player who follows in order, is the next banker.

If neither party has an 8 or a 9 the game continues. The banker will offer the punter a card which he cannot refuse if he has baccarat (0), 1,2,3,4 and which he must refuse if he has 6 or 7. After having dealt the player his third ( this time face-up) card, the banker can choose to draw a card himself. He will make that choice based on strategy considerations, on what the punter drew, and on what he already holds. After that, the hands are shown and the one with the best point wins.