Baccarat is a casino game that is not well understood in the United States, but it is growing in popularity among high rollers. Often found in the high-limit gaming areas of European and Nevada casinos, baccarat is a simple game that requires little technical skill to play. Baccarat is played with nine cards and players place bets on either the Player or Banker hand. The object of the game is to get closer to nine than the other hand. The game was developed in Asia and it is possible that the game was brought to Europe by sailors returning from Asia.
While the rules are simple, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes of a baccarat table. A baccarat dealer is in charge of collecting losing bets and announcing winning ones, and he or she is also responsible for drawing the cards. This process can be done by a computer program, but in the case of live games the dealer draws the cards with a special plastic card. The dealer then cuts the deck and prepares the next round of bets.
As the game continues, the dealer takes a commission on bets and announces the winner. The baccarat dealer also keeps track of the money in the betslip and manages the bank account. Baccarat is a popular game for high rollers because of its low house edge, which is around 1 percent on banker and player bets. The game also has a third bet, tie, that pays eight to one, but most serious players stick with player or banker.
Baccarat was founded by the bishop of Orleans, Louis-Joseph de Laval-Montmorency, in the mid-18th Century as a prestigious artistic workshop. While the company remained primarily a producer of windows, mirrors and other decorative items for much of its history, Baccarat was able to diversify its production in the 19th Century, including lead crystal. Baccarat’s most famous design from this period is the ‘Jusivy’ table service, created for the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle and later commissioned by King Louis-Philippe of France. The firm’s glass was prized for its prismatic lustre, the ability to reflect a wide range of colors in response to different light angles.
The word ‘baccarat’ is actually a shortened form of the French phrase, ‘baccarette’. It was not until 1860 that the company began to trademark its products, but even this early mark took the form of paper labels attached to the product. Today, Baccarat pieces feature a scripted laser-etched mark. Baccarat is also known for its small’mini-baccarat’ tables, which are designed to accommodate fewer players and have a slightly lower minimum bet amount than regular baccarat tables. This variation of the game is not a separate variant of the rulebook, but it uses a different table layout and a smaller number of cards. The mini-baccarat rules are otherwise identical to the standard version of the game.