Baccarat: A poker lover's game

Baccarat is a game that has always been popular in posh circles, but is quickly gaining popularity among the poker community. The poker world is always seeking out different ways to spend downtime. Over the last couple of years, Open-Face Chinese Poker has become massively popular among pros. But do not overlook the infectious nature of baccarat, which has also been gaining in popularity.

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THE ALLURE OF BACCARAT

Earlier this year, the Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila, Philippines hosted a World Poker Tour High Roller event called the Triton Cup series. German wunderkind Fedor Holz, who is still only 21 years old, won the $200,000 buy-in Super High Roller tournament.

One of the funniest moments of the tournament involved a pair of short stacks, Shi Jie Cai and Denny Peng, who both left the tournament area on a break and never returned. The pair were both short stacks in the poker tournament and probably would have busted right after the break, but they conceded their inevitable fate. Why? They were engrossed in a hot and heavy game of baccarat.

For decades, poker players have had a strong affinity for shooting dice, so it was not uncommon to see a semi-circle of poker pros huddled around a craps table during a break in a poker tournament. These days, the baccarat tables have become the rendezvous point for extracurricular gambling activities.

Baccarat is a fun and exciting game that can enrapture the participant. In 2016, baccarat is one of the most popular games on the planet. You don’t have to visit a casino in Monte Carlo, or Macau, or Las Vegas to play. These days, latest technology enables you to also play online baccarat, but with a live dealer [3].

Baccarat first gained popularity in Europe in the 19th Century, particularly in French casinos. It is loosely based on a couple of regional games including the Japanese card game Oicho-Kabu.

The most common version of baccarat that you will see in gambling circles is a form of Punto Banco, which is also another name that baccarat once went by. In Punto Banco, the casino handles the duties as the banker (Banco), while the bettor can choose to back the player (Punto) or the bank (Banco).

There are also different variations of baccarat based on the table size. The bigger casinos will spread Big Table Baccarat and some North American casinos offer Mini Baccarat, which progresses much faster because the dealer turns over the cards. Sometimes Mini Baccarat tables utilize a six-deck shoe instead of a typical eight-deck shoe.

Baccarat is a favorite pastime among high-stakes gamblers (including poker pros) because of the massive sums that can be won in a single session. That’s why baccarat is associated with the high roller, jetsetting lifestyle that you would expect to find in a James Bond film [4].

Publicly traded casinos are well aware of the pros and cons to hosting high-stakes baccarat games. A huge whale from out of town in the middle of a hot streak at the baccarat VIP room could make or break a casino's quarterly earnings.

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BACCARAT AND POKER

For most of the 20^th Century, poker and dice went hand in hand. Even though craps is not a game with the best expected value [5], it was still widely popular. Many of the original Texas rounders like Doyle Brunson, Crandell Addington and Amarillo Slim were also avid craps players.

Craps is still the most exciting game in any brick and mortar casino, but baccarat has been gaining in popularity in North American casinos. Many poker pros are also playing on the international circuit, so they have come across other casinos in different cities all over the world. In Macau, for example, baccarat is the most popular game and you will see rooms the size of football pitches that have nothing but baccarat tables.

And no matter where you go to gamble, from Monte Carlo to Reno you will find the baccarat section buzzing on any given night.

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ATTRACTIVE BACCARAT

What makes baccarat appealing to poker players? The challenge, the exclusivity, the mathematical edges, and the action! Add all of those up and you have a perfect storm for poker players, who are always a curious and adventurous bunch.

The game of baccarat attracts a wealthier and more exclusive clientele. The action is unmatchable and the swings are gigantic.

There’s a lot of strategy that involves knowing odds and percentages. Some of the best baccarat players in the world have their percentage charts memorized and automatically understand what to do in any given position. That trait is very similar to poker.

Poker takes seconds to learn but years to master. It takes a little longer to learn baccarat, but once you learn the intricacies of the game, you can master it much more quickly than poker. The game of baccarat is deceptively complex. Sure, it can be challenging at first but that’s because most people compare it to simpler games like blackjack and craps.

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BACCARAT POPULAR AMONG PROS

Phil Ivey is a notoriously famous baccarat player. For many years, casinos all over the world including casinos in Australia used to extend to Ivey a line of credit, often hovering in the high six figures, in order to entice him to sit down and play baccarat in one of their luxurious VIP high roller rooms.

Other baccarat enthusiasts include Tom Dwan [6], Liz Lieu, Barry Greenstein [7], Phil Laak, Gus Hansen [8], Australian online pro Rayan “rkruok” Nathan, and American online pro Skye “PushermanSF” Pinson.

ALL-IN ON BACCARAT

Baccarat is a fun and fascinating game, and it’s surprising it is not as popular as blackjack or craps. Baccarat has quickly become one of the favorite side games for poker players, especially high-stakes poker pros. Many of them love the challenge and will play baccarat in their downtime and on breaks, and some will get so embroiled in a session of baccarat that they’ll even skip a poker tournament to keep on playing, apparently.

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