Baccarat Varieties Across the Nations

The game of baccarat is probably the most traveled casino game in history. From the heart of Italy, baccarat has crossed boarders and oceans to become one of the most favorite casino games of people around the world.

One of the earliest baccarat games known as "baccarat", arrived the soils of France during the last decade of the 15th century. It was became known as "chemin de fer", the French term for "street of fire" or "railroad".

This baccarat variety is named after railroad due to the manner by which the "shoe" or the turn to be a banker is passed among the players. This is done in a counterclockwise fashion, where every player has a chance to be the banker. In "chemin de fer", the players wager amongst themselves. The casino merely collects a commission worth 5% of the winnings in the bank.

Due to the widespread popularity of "chemin de fer" in France, it eventually crossed boarders and finally reached England. The Englishmen became so fond of this fancy game that they made their own version. Some rules were changed and "chemin de fer" renamed to "European Baccarat". In this baccarat variety, the casino is the banker and sets the limit for the betting. The number of players that can bet per round is limited by the amount of betting other players will make.

Several other baccarat varieties have been developed in Europe and North America. One of them is the "Baccarat en Banque". The main difference of this variety is three hands are dealt instead of two. Two hands are dealt for the Player and one for the Bank. The role of the bank is held by a player, which will not be transferred to another player unless the banker has been beaten.

Baccarat eventually crossed the Atlantic Ocean and became popular first in South America before reaching the United States of America. It became one of the main attractions of the casinos in the country, especially in Las Vegas. This variety is now known as the American Baccarat.

The casino funds the game and the players bet on either the Player's hand or the Banker's hand. Other casinos also offer an option to bet on Tie or Stand-off. Most of the casinos provide the dealers and the "croupier" or caller. With these, the players do not need to touch the cards and now about the rules for drawing a third card for each hand. These rules are automatically enforced by the casinos.

One of the newest baccarat games is the mini-baccarat. The rules for mini-baccarat are very similar to the rules used in the American Baccarat. The difference lies in the size of the table and the minimum about betting. Mini-baccarat is played outside the usual velvet ropes and has lower table limits. The size of the table is similar to the size of a regular blackjack table. With this, baccarat became more accommodating to average rollers in casinos worldwide.