There are many people who claim to know the history of Baccarat but with so many different versions about its origins, one can only guess where this game, which has now become so very popular, actually originated from.

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Legend has it that the game of Baccarat began with the ancient Roman Etruscans in Italy.  Evidently they had a ritual whereby nine gods would pray for a blond virgin while she threw a nine-studded die to decide her fate.  If the virgin threw a five or less she would be required to walk into the sea and drown.  If she threw a six or seven it meant she would be allowed to live and would not be required to throw the die again.  However, if she threw an eight or a nine, then she was promoted to priestess.

Eventually, playing cards, which are the tools which one needs in order to play Baccarat, were brought back with the Crusaders in the 14th century. However, until Johann Gutenberg printed the first Bible, and also playing cards, which later became the first tarot deck, it was the Church’s opinion that playing cards were the incarnation of all evil.

Felix Falguiere revived the game of Baccarat in Italy in the 1480s from a deck of tarot cards.  He took the ancient Etruscan ritual and transformed it into a wagering game he called Baccarat, which was a Venetian slang term for zero – zero being the value point that most cards hold.

Although some claim that Baccarat was invented by the French it would appear that Baccarat was introduced to the French by the Italians in the 1500s.  Baccarat was very popular with the French nobility of the time.   They renamed Baccarat Chemin de Fer (which is French for railroad) during this time period.   The game required four players, each taking turns to be the banker.   They also introduced new terms to the game, namely “banco”, which meant that the players bet on the total of the bank’s funds’  “cheval” which meant that other players could bet on either hand; “non” which meant the player chose to stand and finally “carte” when the player would request another card.

Until legislation was passed which began taxing Baccarat and some of the proceedings given to the poor, Baccarat was illegal and the nobility played the game in secret.  Thereafter, Baccarat was very popular as it now became an act of charity.   However, when Napoleon came to power at the end of the 1700s he frowned upon the game, even though he did not make it illegal.  Once Baccarat lost its social acceptability it was no longer a popular game.   Baccarat and other forms of gambling were outlawed when Louis Philippe took control 1830 and they continued to be illegal until 1907.   

In the mid 1900s Baccarat found its way from Europe to South American and then to the United States of America.   Surprisingly, it did not become as popular there as it did in Europe.  It was in Cuba that a few rule changes were made and it became known as Punto Banco (American Baccarat).  Whereas the European version of the game allowed players to bet against each other and the house took a percentage, in the American form all players were able to bet against the house.   A junior manager at the Capri Hotel Casino in Havana decided to try his luck and moved the popularity of Baccarat away from Cuba towards Nevada where the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas introduced the game by setting up a Baccarat pit which included all the fanfare that a normal Baccarat playing area consisted of.  The area was then roped off.  It is believed that the Sands Casino lost $250,000 in the first night of play.

In the 1950s and 1960s American gamblers preferred informal games to Baccarat which had a very formal image.   The casinos therefore invented mini-Baccarat which could be played on a table similar in size to a blackjack table making it far less intimidating.

When Baccarat was introduced to the online casino scene, it became very popular.  Now every player who has access to an online casino can play this game which was previously out of their reach due to the elegant dress code and exclusivity which was attached to the game of Baccarat in land casinos.

Help write the next chapter in Baccarat’s history and join the millions of people who are enjoying discovering Baccarat online.

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