How big is baccarat in the world?|Gold99
Casinos in Macau have made more money than any other city in the world since it overtook Las Vegas in 2006. Last year, more than 88 percent of the $33.2 billion in revenue at Macau’s 40 casinos came from baccarat. The game also generates most of Singapore’s casino revenue, and even on the Las Vegas Strip, where many tourists don’t even know the rules of the game, it accounts for 18 percent of casino wins. The only game that brings more wins to Strip casinos is slot machines, and there are far more slot machines in Las Vegas than baccarat tables.
Bill Zender is a former Nevada gaming control agent, casino dealer, executive and current consultant who has written a book on regulating casino gaming. During his more than 40 years of professional career, he has seen the rapid development of baccarat.
“We really had to dress it up in order to get people interested in the game before the influx of Asian players,” he said. “So you have big tables for two, dealers in tuxedos, and glamorous women in tuxedos. It’s very James Bond.”
Over the past two decades, Asian high rollers have almost universally adopted baccarat as their game of choice because it uniquely fits their cultural preferences, Zender said.Gold99
“After the cards are shuffled, they are put into the shoe,” he said. “The players didn’t hit the ball or stand – it was all based on pre-determined rules. So they believed their luck flowed into the shoe. That was important. In the past, if the dealer made a mistake, we would ‘burn [discard] a cards, but when we do, the Asian players leave the table; they think it ruins their luck. So we started saving cards and dealing fake cards. “
While baccarat is often tucked away in high-limit gaming areas, it’s a simple and easy game to play. Players choose whether to bet on the “Player” or “Banker” hand, then sit back and let the dealer do the rest. This game is closer to nine than the other hand. If your cards total more than 9, discard the first number. For example, a 7 and a 6 would make 13, which then drops to 3. 10 cards (10, J, Q, and K) count as 0, and an Ace counts as 1.
Why Baccarat Attracts High Rollers?|Gold99
Aside from the cultural reasons Zender outlined, the game has one of the lowest hold rates in the casino, with an average house edge of about 1.2 percent on both banker and player bets. There is also a third bet, the tie, which pays 8 to 1 if both hands tie, but it has a much bigger house edge – over 14%. Well, most serious players will stick to the Player or Banker.
The danger of baccarat for casinos is that, due to the high stakes and small house edge, it is possible for players to win large sums of money at the casino’s expense. How high are the betting limits? Zender cites the example of casinos in Singapore, where bets can be as high as S$750,000 (about US$550,000) per hand, and casinos on the Las Vegas Strip where bets can be as high as US$150,000 per hand. While casinos can make millions in a few hours, they can also lose millions.
“The rule of thumb I tell them,” Zander said of his advice to casino managers looking to profit from baccarat, “is that you risk 100 times the average bet. So if a guy bets $10,000 a hand , he could win $1 million from you. That’s within two standard deviations, so it’s possible.”
Baccarat has changed a lot from its elegant European origins. Most casinos now offer stand-up games, which look a lot like blackjack, because most Asian big-name players aren’t too fond of James Bond’s tuxedo-clad dealers and two-handed pomp, Zender said. The game can also be found on regular casino floors, often with lower minimums, although table minimums can still be expensive in high-limit areas.Gold99
As a result, the game, which originated in Europe and found new life in Asia, is more accessible to American gamblers than ever. Given its huge earning potential and track record around the world, don’t be surprised if your local casino adds more baccarat tables soon.
And, given that this is one of the few games where high-stakes players can cause damage to the casino, don’t expect to see players with deep pockets ready to take their chances.
The dealer follows a fixed set of rules for deciding whether to draw a third card, so the only decisions players need to make are which hand to bet on and how much to bet.
