History of Baccarat

Baccarat is possibly the most elegant game in the casino world. Normally roped off in a secluded area of a casino, the aura surrounding baccarat is one of intrigue and grandeur. The object of baccarat is to draw a two or three card hand whose total is closer to nine than the banker’s cards’ total. The ten and royalty cards are worth zero, ace is worth one and the remainder take their face value. Unlike blackjack, players do not go bust in baccarat.

Baccarat has its roots firmly in an ancient Etruscan ritual. This ritual involved nine gods who would pray for the fate of a young blond virgin, who was required to throw a nine-faced die in order to determine her future. If she rolled an 8 or 9, she would become a priestess, 6 or 7 she would be set free and five or less meant she had walk into the sea and drown herself. The revivers of baccarat are the 15th century used the basic concepts of that ritual but one would assume that this was not a game that determined their fate!

Felix Falguiere is credited by many to be the reviver of baccarat in medieval Italy. Using tarot cards, Falguiere took the basics of the Etruscan ritual and created an exciting wagering game. The game was named from the Venetian colloquial word for zero, due to the high number of cards with zero value in baccarat.

The French nobility caught wind of the game from their Italian neighbors in the 1500s and baccarat became immensely popular. The French were always looking for new and exiting forms of leisure activity and the game was well game in their courts, after being renamed Chemin de Fer (railroad).

Besides for the name change, the French nobility also made a few adjustments to the game. Baccarat now required four players and each player had a turn to be the banker. The French also introduced the following terms: ‘banco’ – players bet on the bank’s total funds, ‘cheval’ – other players can bet on either hand, ‘non’ – players choose to stand and ‘carte’ – players request another card.

The legality of baccarat was always an issue for the French, and they were often forced to have clandestine playing sessions. In the 1600s, legislation was passed which taxed the winnings of the game and some of the proceedings had to be given to the poor. This previously illegal game suddenly became a philanthropic act and the golden period of baccarat lasted until the late 1700s, when Napoleon rose to power. Even though Napoleon did not rule the game as illegal, he did not approve and the French nobility, who were always trying to find favor from the ruler’s courts, began to play the game less and less. When Louis Philippe took over the rule in 1830 he banned all forms of gambling, including baccarat, which remained illegal until 1907.

The focus of baccarat moved from Europe to Argentina and a variation called Punto Y Banca emerged. After migrating to Cuba, the game was renamed Punto Banco and also received some new rules. American baccarat, as it became known, allowed all players to bet against the house, whereas in the European version, allowed players to bet against the other, with the house taking a cut.

Baccarat was ‘discovered’ by a junior manager at the Capri Hotel Casino in Havana, who had observed the popularity of the game. Frances Renzoni decided to move the focus of baccarat out of the politically tremulous 1950s Cuba and onwards to Nevada. After contacting the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, Renzoni facilitated the opening of the first baccarat pitch. The event was accompanied by a lot of fanfare and hype – dealers wore tuxedos, the area was roped off and the word ‘exclusivity’ floated in the air. The gamers were attracted to baccarat and according to a memoir written by Renzoni, the casino lost $250,000 on the first night of play.

When baccarat was first introduced to America, it received a warm reception, but slowly the initial hype gave way to disinterest in a game that was so formal and foreboding. The American gaming culture of the 1950s and 1960s was very casual and players generally preferred other casino games over baccarat. In order to try and attract the masses back to baccarat, casino owners created a less formal version of the game called mini-baccarat. This version was played on a table similar in size to a blackjack table, required only one dealer and was not set in a closed off area of the casino. Mini-baccarat saved the game’s image and it soon moved, once again, to the casino’s front line.

A new chapter in baccarat’s history was written in the late 1990s with the birth of the online casino industry. The exclusivity of baccarat fell away when it went online and suddenly every player who previously considered the game ‘out of their range’ were presented with the opportunity to play. Baccarat enjoys great popularity in the online form and the globalization of the remote gambling industry has certainly benefited the game’s image.