Baccarat is one of the world’s most popular casino games, and it’s no surprise that many of the world’s most high-profile casinos — including those on the Las Vegas Strip and in Macau – make a big chunk of their income from this game. While it may seem intimidating to those who aren’t familiar with the rules, baccarat is actually an easy and simple game to play.

The game starts with two cards dealt to the Player and Banker. The values of these cards are summed and the card with the closest value to nine wins. In some versions of the game, a third card is also dealt, but it is optional and doesn’t affect the final outcome of the hand.

This game is played on a full-sized table, which can accommodate from seven to 14 players. The first player to place a stake, called the banker, places his stake in the center of the table and then each player places a bet on either the Banker or Player hand. Then, each player takes a turn placing a bet until their total wagers equal the banker’s stake.

Before the cards are dealt, each player is given the option to stand or ask for a card. If the player stands, they must wait for the banker to draw their next card. If the player asks for a card, they can then look at their own third card and decide whether to stand or not.

Traditionally, the dealer deals the cards on the Baccarat table, but nowadays, the caller does this instead. This means that the banker doesn’t have to follow the rules of the game but has the freedom to choose his own strategy.

In a standard version of the game, the values of each card are summed and the sum is compared against a second card, which is dealt to either or both the Player or Banker hand. If the second card is higher than the initial card, the sum is adjusted by subtracting 10 from the original card’s value. If the second card is lower than the initial card, the sum is adjusted again by subtracting 10.

When the value of a second card reaches a double digit, the first digit is dropped from the total and the second digit becomes the new value. This is useful for calculating the number of points on each hand.

Some casinos use a special Baccarat board, which is made of a special type of poker paper. It has a scoring system that counts the number of points on each hand, which helps to ensure that no player or banker is over or under-staking.

Aside from the basic game rules, casinos can offer variations of baccarat with different side bets and Mini Baccarat, which is an online version of the game. Some variations even allow you to bet on multiple hand combinations, such as Player and Banker or Player and Tie.

The best bet in Baccarat is to bet on the Banker, as the house edge on this bet is much smaller than the one on the Player or Tie. However, this bet has a 5% commission on winning bets and only a few people can hit it. Therefore, it is only worth playing when you are in a high-stakes situation and you have a lot of money to spend.