There are still many debates about the origins of this great bizzo casino game. Most sources link it to the name of Italian player Felix Falguiere, nicknamed the Godfather of Baccarat. In the late XV century, he created a new game based on the Etruscan ritual with nine-sided dice. Historians studying the history of games, in an attempt to discover the roots of this game, went back to the depths of time and linked the origin of the game of baccarat with certain religious rituals of the civilization of the Etruscans (1500 BC). Then this game was brought to France by the soldiers of Charles VIII. The French King Charles VIII (1470-1498) launched the Franco-Italian War in 1494 to take over the Kingdom of Naples. King Charles VIII’s soldiers brought baccarat to France from Italy
Baccarat was originally played with Tarot cards. It began to be used to conduct distributions, where participants were required to guess the falling values in advance. Over time, the rules of baccarat changed. The Italian-French origins of this word also had their impact on the term “Baccarat”, which is the French equivalent of the Italian word “Baccara,” which translates to “zero” or “nothing.” Based on this apparent etymological connection, authorities in the world of gambling have concluded that the game of baccarat originated from the Italian game of baccarat.
There is also a view, derived from structural similarities, that baccaratt emerged from the development of early variations of blackjack in early 19th-century France during the reign of Louis Philippe (1793-1850). baccarat has many similarities with blackjack, but due to the lesser freedom of the players in baccarat, bets change hands much more frequently and the element of luck plays a greater role. The final version of Baccarat which is close to the Baccarat we all know today appeared only in the XIX century. In Las Vegas, the game appeared in the 40s of the last century. Initially, high stakes were in effect at the tables. But later the owners of gambling houses began to take a commission from the bankers’ boxes, which allowed them to offer customers hands with lower limits. One of the reasons for this is that in baccarat, the player has quite a few ways to influence the game.
Although one can continue to argue about the true source of the origin of the game of baccarat, even if it was discovered by the Italian, it were the French who made this game popular. The game was very popular among French aristocrats in the 16th and 17th centuries, it was played both in private homes and in the royal palace. France during the Napoleons reign was the place were many people enjoyed playing baccarat in many illegal gambling establishments in Paris. At the beginning of the 20th century, baccarat was the most popular game in the casinos of the Côte d’Azur (French Riviera).
One of the most popular variants of the game, punto banco, is connected to the history of Las Vegas. The history of baccarat in the United States began around 1911-1912 when it appeared in several illegal casinos in New York State. It wasn’t as popular as blackjack. Only 50 years later, in the middle of the 20th century baccarat started to be one of the most widely known casino games. Many people became interested in it, and baccarat was played in many landbased casinos and later online casinos.
American Las Vegas Style Baccarat (American Las Vegas Style Baccarat) was played in American casinos. In other countries, this version of baccarat is also called Punto-Banco. The rules of American baccarat do not leave the player any opportunity to interfere in the course of the game, the distribution of cards, as well as its termination, is determined solely by the rules, the game is completely on autopilot, and players only receive information from the dealer about winning or losing. Today, in all American casinos, in addition to American-style baccarat, you can also play mini-baccarat. The rules of mini-baccarat are identical to the rules of American baccarat. This variant of the game differs from the classic one by a small table with a maximum number of participant, 7 people. The croupier takes bets. Actually the differences between different variants of baccarat are not so big
