Baccarat is one of the most popular casino games. The enigmatic card game has long held a certain mystique, evoking images of men in tuxedos and women in posh evening dresses laying down chips at an opulent casino. Despite its mystique, baccarat is an easy and fun game to play, and it can generate huge profits for casinos. The game is a simple mix of chance and strategy, making it easy for players to get involved.

Baccarat can be played in many different ways, but most versions feature the same basic rules and payouts. Regardless of the variation, the goal is to correctly predict which hand will win – either the player’s, the banker’s, or a tie – in each round. The game is generally played with six, seven, or eight standard decks of 52 cards, each of which has a specific value when combined into a hand. For instance, a hand consisting of a 5 and a 6 is worth eight points while a hand made out of a 3 and a 7 is valued at nine points.

Traditionally, the game of baccarat was played in a large room with a group of players sitting around the table. The dealer would deal each player a card, and the players could bet against each other or the house. Nowadays, the game is more common in private rooms in land-based casinos and in online casinos. It is also much more accessible, with many variations of the game available that offer different rules and betting options.

The most common version of baccarat is known as punto banco. It uses six or eight standard decks and is played with a single dealer. Each hand is scored based on its total, with the player’s and banker’s hands scoring a total of 8 or 9 depending on whether they have the highest or lowest values. The third card is drawn only when the first two cards have a combined value of 8 or 9. The dealer then pays out the winning bets and collects the losing ones. The banker’s winning bet is subject to a 5% commission, which is collected by the dealer and marked in the commission box.

Beyond the player win, banker win, and tie, baccarat also offers a few side bets, which pay out according to their odds. These vary by establishment and platform, but are an exciting addition to the game of baccarat. One side bet, called a banker pair, wagers that the banker will receive a pair of identical cards on the deal and pays 11:1 odds. Another, called a player pair, offers the same odds and wagers that the player will receive identical cards on the deal. EZ baccarat is a variant of the game that pays even money on both the banker and player bets and does not include the 5% commission. Other variations, such as Dragon 7, add an extra side bet that pays 40:1 if the banker wins with a 7.