Baccarat is a simple card game that has a lot of appeal, especially among high rollers. The rules are simple to learn, and the game can keep players entertained for hours without requiring too much effort. It is also one of the most popular casino games, and it is found in many casinos around the world. This game is often portrayed in films and television, including the most famous scene in the James Bond film Casino Royal where Bond plays baccarat against the villainous Le Chiffre.

A baccarat table is a small, round or oval table, with nine spots for players. The table is covered with a green felt and the dealer has a black or red uniform, with white gloves for dealing the cards. The players place their bets in counterclockwise order and the player or banker sets an initial betting amount. The other players can then announce if they wish to go bank and play against the initial banker bet, and may add additional bets as long as the total doesn’t exceed the original banker bet.

After all the bets have been placed, the dealer deals two cards to each hand. The winner is the hand with a value closest to nine. The value of the hand is determined by adding up the digits of the two cards, with only the rightmost digit taken into account. The number values of 2s through 9s are worth their face value, and the suits have no bearing on the hand’s value.

The most common form of baccarat in casinos today is known as Punto Banco, and it can be played legally online in the five states that have legalized it. Unlike more historic baccarat games, where the house banks the game and commits to playing out both hands according to fixed drawing rules, punto banco is a standardized form that allows the players no choice in how the game proceeds.

Several other baccarat variants exist, including the more complicated baccarat chemin de fer and baccarat banque (also called baccarat deux tableaux). The former is similar to punto banco, but gives both players a free choice of how to play their cards. It is thought to be the original 19th century form of the game and was also described as baccarat à deux tableaux. This version of the game has fallen out of favor in some countries because it enables cheating between players and bankers, who can signal their card counting. In addition, the rules for this form of the game are more complicated than those for punto banco.