Baccarat has become an immensely popular casino game all over the world due to the publicity given to it in Hollywood movies. Delving into the history of the game, we find that it originated in Italy by a person called Felix Falgueirin. The exact time is not clearly known. The present form of the game was first played in France, probably at the end of the fifteenth century. In England the game was played more for fun than as gambling. Here it used to be called European Baccarat. In America a simplified form of the game became popular in mid twentieth century and was called Punto Banco. Now the game can be played in popular betting sites like internationalbetting.net.
How the Game is played?
There are three areas marked on a baccarat table – the ’banker’, the ‘player’, and ‘tie’. The game can be played by a single player and up to a maximum of 14 players. The player has to place his/her bet on either ‘banker’ or ‘player’ before the cards are dealt. The player or the casino operator slides the cards from the shoe. The banker and the players are dealt two cards each. 10 and the face cards are counted as zero. Ace is counted as 1. Other cards (9 to 2) are counted at their face value. The winner is the one whose sum of the card values is closest to 9. However, the second digit of a double-digit value is considered while counting. For example whether the sum is 15 or 25, the value will be 5. If the card values of the banker and the player are the same, then it is a ‘tie’.
Lady Luck rules
No matter how many times a player may have played baccarat, it is not possible to formulate any winning strategy for the game. In other casino card games like blackjack, it is possible to win through intelligent playing by counting cards. In baccarat there is no such opportunity. The mere fact that the player has to place his/her bet at the very beginning of the game without having any clue as to what cards will be dealt shows that it is impossible to win through clever planning. This is why it is so popular among players who just want to try their luck for fun.
Online baccarat – pure fun
The age of the Internet has made online gaming easily available and can be played in spare time from the comfort of one’s home. True, there are some who may argue in favor of the ambience provided by casino rooms. However, the online player need not be bothered with hollering and table thumping co-players typical of a gambling den. Online baccarat can be played either in mini baccarat style, where all the cards are dealt quickly by the dealer or the ‘big table’ style where the player can turn the cards one at a time. In online baccarat the player need not play for real money. If a person wants to enjoy the thrill of the game without making a hole in his wallet online gaming is the best way.
