Once reserved for lavish casinos and James Bond novels, the game of Baccarat has been expanding its boundaries as of late. That's because Baccarat has been appearing in more and more online casinos in recent years and this growth doesn't look to be stopping any time soon. In fact, you can even find all three variations of the game (Punta Bunca, Baccarat Chemin de Fer, and Baccarat Banque) in online Baccarat. It's truly amazing how far Baccarat has come from its humble beginnings in Italy to being a major online casino game.
Baccarat HistoryMost historians credit famous gambler Felix Falguierein as the inventor of Baccarat in 15th century Italy. Falguierein played Baccarat with tarot cards and based his version of the game on old Etruscan rituals. But it wasn't until 1490, when Baccarat was introduced to France, that it really became popularized. Once French noblemen started playing the game, Baccarat began to spread out to other nations across Europe.
When Baccarat came to South America, it was clear that the game was truly becoming global. Tommy Renzoni brought Baccarat into the American casinos during the 1950's where it would eventually become huge in Las Vegas. Online Baccarat was born in the late 1990's when many online casinos began opening their cyber doors and offering Baccarat as one of the featured games. Now online baccarat is one of the most popular games on the Internet with million of people playing it worldwide.
Baccarat BasicsThe hand values in Baccarat are extremely easy to understand and the other rules aren't difficult to comprehend either. Cards 2-9 are worth their number value, an ace is worth one point, and 10-K is worth nothing. The goal (as far as hands go) is to get a hand that has a point total close to, or equal to, the number 9. If a person's hand goes over the number 9 then their point total will automatically drop by 10. The two hands represented at the table are the "player" and the "banker" and you can bet on the player, the banker, or the two hands tying each other. Once the winning hand has been announced, winning bets will be paid out and losing wagers will be collected by the House.
