Baccarat, also known as Punto Banco or Banker’s Baccarat, is one of the most popular casino games worldwide. It is a simple game of chance and has a relatively low house edge, which makes it attractive to high rollers.

Players place bets on the player’s hand and the banker’s hand, or a tie. If the player’s hand wins, the payout is usually 1 to 1, but if the banker’s hand wins, the payout is sometimes 2 to 1. The rules of Baccarat are fairly straightforward and require only a minimal level of skill to play.

The game is played with eight or six decks of cards (depending on the casino’s specifications), which are dealt from a shoe that has the values of all tens, Jacks, Queens, and Kings. All other cards are numbered, and the face value of a card is equal to its numerical value.

To play, you simply choose a bet amount and sit down at the table. The dealer will then deal two cards to each of the two hands, called a Player hand and a Banker hand. The two hands are then judged, and the hand closest to nine wins.

While baccarat is an extremely popular game, it can be confusing at first because the player’s and banker’s two-card hands are hidden from view during the initial dealing process. This is because baccarat was originally a game of chance, and the player’s and banker’s hands were ruled based on the total of their third cards, which are often called “draw decisions” in the game.

Aside from its historical significance, baccarat is one of the world’s most popular gambling games and is a favorite among high rollers. In Macau, where it is a national sport, it accounts for over 88 percent of the region’s $33.2 billion in gaming revenue.

It is a European classic, but it has been modernized to appeal to the Asian market. Zender explains that the James Bond pageantry of tuxedoed dealers and double tables has been replaced with a simpler single-table game, which is easier to navigate for big Asian players.

In the United States, baccarat is mostly punto banco, which means the casino banks the game at all times, and commits to playing out both hands according to fixed drawing rules. These fixed rules are referred to as the “tableau” and differ slightly from the more traditional baccarat game where the individual decisions of both the player and banker are made.

This is an important difference because punto banco means that the bettor has no particular association with either the player or banker. The game is played against the house, and the player must pay a 5% commission on winnings from the Banker’s hand.

In addition to the traditional baccarat game, casinos also offer side bets. These are usually priced more expensive than the main bets, and can range from very small to very large. Most players stick to the main bets, which have relatively low house edges.