Baccarat is one of the world’s most popular casino games. It is easy to learn and maintains a relatively low house edge compared to other casino games like blackjack and roulette. It is also a game that many players find relaxing and fun. It is no wonder that the famous author Ian Fleming took a liking to it and immortalised it as the game played in his James Bond movies.

The most common form of baccarat is the modern version, called Punto Banco. In this game the banker deals two cards to himself and two to the player and the hand closest to 9 wins. A tie occurs when both hands are equal in value. The banker then pays out or collects or returns the player’s stakes according to the outcome of the hand.

Another popular variation of baccarat is Chemin de Fer which was made popular in France in the 19th century. This game is played with six decks of cards and a group of players sitting around a table in counter-clockwise order. The player who is going to be the banker announces this and sets the initial betting amount. The other players then decide whether to bet on the Player or Banker hand and add their bets to the initial banker bet, but they can’t go over this amount.

Once all the bets are placed the banker then deals two cards to himself and one card to each of the players. The higher valued hand is then compared with the banker’s and if either of them contains a natural (values of 8 or 9), the winner is immediately decided. Otherwise, further cards are drawn to determine the final result.