Baccarat is the card game of choice for high rollers and the kind of casino game you see in movies, evoking images of men in tuxedos and women in evening dresses laying down chips as the dealer hands out cards. While it may have a certain mystique, baccarat is actually a simple game to play that anyone can learn in minutes and enjoy. Plus, it has one of the lowest house edges in casinos, allowing players to make more money on any given session than a wager on slots or roulette.

In baccarat two cards are dealt to the Banker hand and the Player hand, sometimes a third card is also dealt. The winning hand is the one closest to nine, with 9 being a perfect score and 0 being the worst possible outcome. The two cards are dealt from a shuffled deck of eight or six standard 52-card packs. The value of the cards is determined by their pip denomination, with 2 through 9 carries equal values and face cards having the same value as their face. The Player and Banker bets are made by placing a bet on which hand will win, with the option to place a tie bet.

While there are a few different variations of the game, baccarat is typically played with 8 decks shuffled together. Unlike poker where the rules of each variation are more complex, the basic game is fairly consistent across all variations. The main differences are the varying methods of dealing the cards, the stances taken by the players, and the rules for deciding when to draw and stand. The earliest games like Punto Banco and Baccarat a Deux Tableaux were played with the first two cards in each hand concealed, with only the third card being revealed. These decision tables are still used for the older games and offer a good guide to basic strategy in these types of baccarat.

The most important aspect of a successful baccarat strategy is to know the game’s rules and understand the game’s betting structure. The Player and Banker bets both pay out if the player or banker wins. In baccarat, the banker’s hand has the lowest house edge and will usually win more often than the player’s hand.

The Tie bet, on the other hand, has a much higher house edge and is a bad bet to make unless you’re an expert. The best thing to do is ignore the Tie bet and only focus on maximizing your Banker and Player bets. By concentrating on the two major bets, you’ll improve your chances of winning by reducing the house’s edge by a significant amount. For this reason, intelligent players never make the Tie bet. This is not to say that you shouldn’t try your luck at the Tie bet; just don’t expect it to bring you much in return for your investment.