Baccarat originated in mid 19th century France and is a casino type game played for high stakes. The objective of the game is to predict which hand, the Player or the Banker, will have the highest value after the cards are dealt.

Baccarat uses a number of standard 52-card packs which are shuffled together and dealt by the dealer. The first card is dealt to the Player box and the second to the Banker box.

After all bets have been placed the dealer deals a card to each player and reveals it at the Player and Banker boxes. When the Player or Banker box has a combination of a higher rank, the player wins and the banker loses.

The game is played in a large table with green felt covering the entire surface and marked with numbered areas where bets can be placed. A croupier sits in front of the table and does not participate in the betting process.

Rules of the game vary between the three variants of baccarat; Punto Banco, Chemin de Fer and Baccarat a Deux Tableaux. In the older versions players had a lot of freedom in choosing to stand or take a third card, but these decisions are now governed by rules.

Using third cards correctly in baccarat is crucial to success. The maximum total a hand can reach is nine and any hand that exceeds this must be adjusted by subtracting 10 from the total.