The History of Baccarat: From 13th Century to HD Live Streaming

The Real History of Baccarat

The history of baccarat dates back to hundreds of years and is associated with medieval Italy. The wonderful table game “Baccarat” was generally played by the upper class and was considered as a game for aristocrats for centuries.

However, with the creation of online baccarat, the game has become accessible and is played by people of all groups today.

It All Began in Italy…

Three Etruscan stone statues

Baccarat was first created by a man named Felix Falguiere in Italy in the 14th century. He termed the game as “Baccara,” meaning “zero” in Italian. It was named so because all the face cards and tens were valued as zeros. Years later, the French spelling baccarat was accepted and used worldwide.

It is strongly believed that the game of baccarat was based on the ancient Etruscan legend of a virgin, where a nine-sided die was thrown, and the number on the die determined her fate. If the number was an eight or a nine, then she was honored to become a priestess – the maximum glory.

Three female promiscuous Etruscan statues casually chillin’.If it was a six or seven, she could only live (but she could not attend any community or religious rituals or events). If it was any number less than six, then she would be drowned in the sea away from the city.

May not be a nice story, perhaps, but the initial rules of the baccarat game were derived from there. Nobody is drowned in the sea if they get less than six in baccarat, but they obviously lose the game.

How was Baccarat Originally Played?

The baccarat game was played a little differently in the ancient days than the way it’s played today, especially at live online casinos.

In the original game, cards used to be dealt by 4 dealers, and each of the 4 players had a chance to be the banker.

The players also had the opportunity to bet against other dealers and against the house as well. Whereas today, there is only one dealer and bets are placed against the house alone.

Baccarat Moved to France & England

Baccarat moved from Italy to France in a few years, where it was commonly known as Chemin de Fer or simply Chemmy.

Baccarat was one of the favourite games of King Charles VIII and the aristocrats he was surrounded with. The card game soon became a craze among the French noblemen and held its position for centuries.

Later, Baccarat spread to England as well. It was learned by Ian Fleming there who then created the world’s most popular baccarat player – James Bond.

Baccarat Moves to the west

As the years passed, baccarat moved across the Atlantic Ocean to reach South America and the Caribbean island. In Cuba, baccarat was called Punto Banco and the local people adapted the game to their culture in different ways.

The game was altered a bit according to their likings, where the players did not play against each other, and played only against the house. Also, no individual player had the privilege to be regarded as the banker- Casinos acted as the bank. Later, the game was brought to the Sands Casino in Las Vega, USA by Tommy Renzoni.

It was a game for a selected few

Unlike the other popular online casino games (such as slot machines and roulette), baccarat didn’t grab the attention of the gambling public. But, this didn’t bother the casino owners much.

They endorsed the game of baccarat as the one for a select few, fixed high minimum stakes, and kept the baccarat tables in special rooms with swank, posh leather chairs. Of course, this brought extra attention to the game.

Finally to the Online Casinos

Throughout the time, and in all the regions where baccarat was played, it was a game for the rich folks – it was quite evident from the secluded baccarat rooms and the high betting amounts.

While many individuals just watched James Bond play the game in the movies, a few people enjoyed playing the game themselves. However, things have now changed with the invention of the real money casinos online in the mid 1990s.

G2G's guide to learning how to play Progressive Baccarat. — Pictured: A live Baccarat dealer ready to take your bet directly from your mobile!

With the betting amounts being drastically lowered compared to the traditional baccarat game, online baccarat is accessible to any gambler who loves playing a good online card game. The other benefits of online baccarat include saving on travel and hotel expenses. The games are streamed with crystal clear sound and with 1080p HD resolution.

Another upside of illuminated travel costs is the variety of games. I have noted down the rules to a long list of baccarat games here.

And a second upside is the convenience to play and chat with the beautiful live dealers, as pictured on this page. If you want to do the same, I recommend you to sign up to any of the casinos I have reviewed below!

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