A swanky table topped with a fresh shoe of cards and yellow $1,000 chips is manned by two dealers and one croupier who take bets from as many as 14 players. They’re playing baccarat, of course–the table game that is, in the words of former Nevada Gaming Control Agent and casino dealer Bill Zender, “the best damned game in the world.”

The object of the game is to bet on which hand will have a total value closest to nine. Each player and banker are dealt two cards, and the values of those cards are added. If the total is higher than nine, only the second digit counts. If the total is ten, a third card may be drawn. If the hand is a “natural” (meaning it is a winning player or banker bet), the game is over and all bets are paid.

Baccarat is the ultimate gambling experience for high rollers and has long been a favorite of Asian high rollers, according to Bill Zender, an industry consultant who literally wrote the book on managing casino games. He says baccarat has become an especially popular game among Asian high rollers because of its cultural affinity with their tradition of reverence for numbers and its regal nature. The heightened volatility of the game is also appealing to them, as is its comparatively low house edge.

But for the average player, baccarat’s surface simplicity is deceiving. It can be an intensely cerebral game where the simplest of moves have a big impact. It is also a very social game, where players often keep track of their wins and losses in little rectangles that look like studies for large two-toned abstract paintings. Some even save their cards and study them in hushed quorums, hoping to discover patterns that can give them an edge next time.

At the Hard Rock this night, Lou has his fortress of yellow cards and is on a roll. A fresh shoe of cards is being prepared, and players begin the beautiful rituals of baccarat. Then the game begins with a bang: The dealer deals a card to the Player box, followed by a card to the Banker box. If your bet matches the box that has the highest-ranked combination, you win. Otherwise, you lose that round.