This post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.
A.C. says: As the title indicates, this article covers the history of baccarat. There’s no discussion of the casino edge, which is 1.06% on the banker bet, 1.24% on the player bet, and 14.44% on the tie. As stated, the play of the hands is determined by the game’s rules and there are no player decisions beyond which bet to make. Because of its long history, many interesting stories are attached to the game, one of which, the Phil Ivey/Kelly Sun edge-sorting saga, is touched on in this article (a movie about this, titled The Baccarat Machine, is in the works). LVA members can read much more about Ivey/Sun in the newsletter archives and more baccarat-related stories (along with some awesome baccarat art) can be found in our book, The Art of Gambling Through the Ages. The article states that mini-baccarat has “lower odds.” This appears to be an editing error, as mini-baccarat and “big bac” have the same rules. The author likely meant to say that the “limits” are lower, which is usually the case.
This article was written by Sean Chaffin in association with 888Casino.
Player or Banker: The History of Baccarat
What is essentially a simple game that has been around for centuries is viewed by many as a high-class game played by those in the upper echelon. Many may think of a tuxedo-clad James Bond playing the game in some fancy Monte Carlo casino salon.
But baccarat is fairly easy to follow and play with Italian and French roots and remains highly popular centuries after the game was introduced in European gambling houses. This article details the complete history of the game from its roots in high-end gambling houses to private games to eventually thrilling gamblers in Las Vegas.
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Let’s not forget Nico Zogaphos of the Greek Syndicate who inspired Ian Fleming for James Bond’s baccarat scenes.