While Baccarat is often depicted as a game of elegance and prestige in the movies – it’s James Bond’s favorite gambling game, after all – the reality is that this slow-paced card game is actually easy to play and offers some of the best odds in the casino. It’s also one of the only table games where players can place bets without any skill involved.
Essentially, the game is all about betting which hand – the Banker’s, Player’s, or Tie – will come closest to nine points. Two cards are dealt to each hand, and whichever hand is closer to nine wins. A third card may be drawn in certain cases, but this is entirely up to the Caller who runs the table.
In a typical game, the caller will deal the cards from a shoe to the Banker and Player hands. The Player hand will then take a look at the two cards and announce their total. Then the caller will decide whether or not to draw a third card for the Player hand, and if so, which one. In most cases, the third card will be a 9. The player must also declare the winner of the round by placing their chips on either the Player, Banker, or tie bets.
The first time that Baccarat became a household name in the west was when the factory’s work was featured at the great fairs of the 19th Century, such as the 1867 Paris Exposition Universelle, which featured a huge glass fountain, and the 1878 Russian exhibition, where a massive crystal candelabra was commissioned for the palace of Tsar Nicholas II. It was at this point that the firm really started to prosper, and Baccarat began to gain a reputation for its high quality lead crystal.
As the firm grew, so did its popularity, and baccarat soon found itself on the tables of casinos around the world, including in the United States. As the game gained in popularity, new variations and side bets were introduced. Baccarat is now played in high-roller rooms throughout the world, and it is a popular choice among players looking to win big money.
Baccarat is so popular that it has even made its way into several films, such as the 1954 television adaptation of Casino Royal, where Bond plays the game to bankrupt Le Chiffre; the 1967 version of the film, which features the most detailed treatment of a baccarat game in any of the Bond films; Thunderball; On Her Majesty’s Secret Service; For Your Eyes Only; and GoldenEye. It’s also featured in the 2007 movie Rush Hour 3 starring Jason Statham and Genevieve Tessier, who both play the game while on the run from their employers during a Paris heist. Baccarat is also well represented in the novels of Ian Fleming. The first book to feature the game was Casino Royale, followed by the sequels, Dr. No, Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and For Your Eyes Only.