The Origins of Baccarat
Baccarat is one of the oldest casino games in existence although there is some
contention over its exact origins. It can be definitively traced back to France
in the 1490s, although it is possible that it existed before then. The name
"baccarat" is the French name for the Italian word "baccara" which means zero,
as reference to the tens and face cards in the game which have a value of zero.
The game has been attributed to Felix Falguierein, an Italian gambler, who is
said to have invented it as long ago as the Middle Ages. It has even been
suggested that baccarat came from an old Estruscan ritual to the nine gods. In
this ritual, a nine-sided dice was rolled by a virgin. Some feel that baccarat
evolved from blackjack as there are some similarities between the two games.
The French game of baccarat was thought to have been brought to France by
King Charles VIII during the Franco-Italian war. This may explain the French and
Italian origins of the name.
The Development of Baccarat
Baccarat was originally played by the French nobility. Over time it started to
be enjoyed by other classes as well and then it spread into casinos where it has
become a popular casino game. There are different variations of baccarat and
these tend to follow the spread and evolution of the game. The French variation
of baccarat is known as "Chemin de Fer" and it first spread to the rest of
Europe. Once it spread, the rules were altered and it became known as European
baccarat. From Europe the game spread to South America and then to North America
around the early 1910s. It was played in the illegal casinos of New York, but it
was not popular and patrons preferred the game of blackjack. From that time
until the 1950s, baccarat was scarce in the United States.
Baccarat becomes Popular in the United States
In the late 1950s Tommy Renzoni reintroduced baccarat into the United States.
Renzoni had been running a baccarat table in Havana when the Cuban government
closed all of the Havana casinos. He moved to Nevada and introduced a variation
of baccarat into the Dunes Casino in Las Vegas that was a combination of Chemin
de Fer and European baccarat.
Variations of Baccarat
Baccarat has become a casino game that is popular in land-based casinos
throughout the world, as well as in online casinos. The rules vary between
countries, but the basic structure remains. American baccarat is known as Punto
Banco, European baccarat is now known as Baccarat en Banque and in France and
Spain, baccarat remains known as Chemin de Fer. A newer variation of baccarat is
known as mini-baccarat. It is played on smaller blackjack-sized tables with
simpler rules and lower table limits. This is the variations that is typically
used in online casinos as well. Mini baccarat tends to appeal to those with
smaller bankrolls, as up until the time it was invented, baccarat tended to
appeal more to the high rollers of a casino.
