Baccarat has long been a favorite casino game in many cultures. It’s been played in everything from sticky-floor California card rooms to the tuxedo-laden casinos of Monaco. Its Player and Banker bets remain among the most favorable in the industry, and the game itself is one of the most sophisticated and elegant table games you’ll find anywhere. But even with its high-limit tables and high-profile players, Baccarat has a few quirks that make it different from other table games.
One of the biggest differences is that a hand of Baccarat can end in a draw or push. This allows you to bet on a third option that pays out almost as much as a win or loss — but with more risk. This type of bet is known as a Tie and is often more popular with high rollers.
The game’s basic rules are easy to learn, but the strategies can be tricky to master. The main goal is to get the hand you’re betting on – either the Player or Banker – closer to nine than the opposing hand. To do this, you must know how to read the scoreboard. Each hand is scored by adding up all the pips (the dots on a playing card that represent clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades) to determine its total value. Picture cards and tens count as zero points, while aces count as one point. If the score reaches a double digit, the first digit is dropped.
After the players and the banker have placed their bets, the dealer deals two cards to each box. The hand with the highest value wins. The dealer will then announce the result of the hand. The Banker’s and Player’s hands are compared, and the winner is determined by the hand with the highest total.
As the popularity of Baccarat continues to grow, casino operators are looking for ways to keep players engaged. The latest innovation is an advanced progressive jackpot system, which can link multiple table games in a casino to offer a single shared jackpot. This new system, called Bonus Spin Xtreme, was introduced at G2E 2019.
But will the trend continue? Baccarat still generates the most revenue at iconic casinos like the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore and Macau, where bets of up to $100,000 per hand aren’t uncommon. But does it have staying power as casino patrons change? Snow certainly thinks so. He points to the game’s history of elegance and exclusivity as proof.