A few centuries ago, things were simpler because there was only one kind of baccarat. Today, people can choose between many different baccarat games.

Typically, these games are different in different countries. Generally speaking, baccarat games are more or less the same and the only exception is the rules associated with player interactions and drawing. In this article, we will discuss the most popular versions of baccarat today.

Types of Baccarat Games

Experts agree that there are three types of this game that the vast majority of players play:

• Baccarat Chemin De Far
• baccarat Punto Banco
• Baccarat Banque

However, the Banque and Chemin De Far versions are les popular and can be found in just a small number of land-based and online casinos. The good news is that almost every online casino has Punto Banco in its offer.

If you want to play Baccarat online, you don’t need anything else but a small amount of money. All you have to do is to place a bet and wait for the outcome. It’s always good to know what exactly is going on, but the truth is that you don’t have to do anything because the software will determine whether you’ve won or not.

Punto Banco Baccarat

When it comes to Punto Banco, cards are rearranged 8, 6 or 4 decks of 52-card decks. It’s good to know that the casino acts as a banker and follows a strict set of rules. The banker and the player get two cards at the start. In case none of them has a hand value of 9 or 8, the drawing rules for a third card are used. The Player is the first side to get a third card and the point score after that will determine whether the banker will get another card or not. So, Punto Banco which is Player and Banker in Spanish is a card gamer of luck because the player has only one option – to select the bet type.

Baccarat Chemin De Fer

Baccarat Chemin De Fer  is the French version of baccarat which is dealt with six decks of cards on a large table where players are betting against each other. The one that deals the card is a banker while the others are punters. Once the cards are dealt, the banker places a bet which serves as maximum limit and he must match the rest of the bets to this specific amount. The activity at the table goes clockwise and players are free to choose how much money they are willing to place to bet against the banker (of course, they can’t place more than the maximum).

The banker deals two cards that are not revealed – one of the cards is for himself while the other one is for the representative of the players (the one with the highest bet). In case a 9 or 8 is dealt, this must be revealed and the hands are compared to find out who won. In case there is no hand value of 8 or 9, then the banker and the player can ask for a third card. Even though there are no strict rules like we have in ordinary baccarat, the draw patterns are more or less the same. After that, the players will determine who wins and the winners will get paid out after the 5% commission is calculated.

The total amount that the banker can put into play can make a different. In a situation like this, the players can place bets to the full bank or to the rest of the funds when they opt for “go bank” option during their turn. When the bank limit is reached, no one can place another bet even though in case the banker’s bet doesn’t match players’ bets, players can bet until they match the bank. In every version, whenever the banker loses, the shoe is circling clockwise on the table until it reaches a player that wants to become a banker.

Ez Bccarat

Another popular version of traditional Baccarat is EZ Baccarat. This game comes with the same drawing rules as Punto Banco, but the Banker’s payout is better. In the case of Punto Banco, the payout is at odds of 10 and 20, but the EZ Baccarat comes with even odds payout – 1:1.

This might sound very exciting for many people and you might be wondering why everyone is not playing EZ Baccarat. Well, you should remember that players don’t have an advantage over the casino. In case the banker wins with a point count of 7 and has three cards, this is a push which means that you won’t get anything. In other words, this is a 4.9% equivalent commission and the casino edge in EZ Baccarat is smaller or exactly 1.018%.

More Bet Opportunities

It’s also good to mention that there are two unseen side bet opportunities – Panda 8 and Dragon 7. Panda 8 is won when the player gets point value of 8 with the help of three cards and wins the hand. The payout odds for Panda 8 are 25:1 and there is a huge casino edge of 10.17%. On the other hand, Dragon 7 predicts a situation where the banker holds a point value of 8 with the help of three cards. In addition, it has to win, so in case the player gets 9, you will lose. Dragon 7 has payout odds of 40:1 and a casino edge of 7.61%.

Super Pan 9

Super Pan 9 is a form of baccarat played in the US. It relies on a limited deck that consists of 36 cards. It includes all the face cards as well as Aces, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Both the player and the banker get three cards in the beginning and they can get an extra card in order to get closer to 9.

Baccarat en Banque

Baccarat en Banque is mostly played in Europe. This version of Baccarat uses three decks of cards and the player who wants to take the highest risk is the banker. Baccarat en Banque comes with similar drawing rules as the ones found in Chemin de Fer.

Three Card Baccarat is a baccarat game found in Asian casinos.

It uses one deck of card and the player and the banker gets three cards. The best hand includes three face cards.