Baccarat is one of the casino card games that exudes sophistication and elegance. It is the game that you see in James Bond movies with men in tuxedos and women in glamorous evening gowns laying down their chips as they watch the dealer distribute cards. The game can seem daunting to the average casino-goer, but it’s actually quite simple. Baccarat is a card game that requires little skill and has an extremely low house edge.

The game is played with six, seven or eight standard decks of cards. Players place bets on either the player hand, banker hand or a tie. The goal is to correctly predict which hand will have a total closest to nine. The value of a hand is determined by adding up all the cards in the hand. The croupier (the person who collects and pays bets and assists at the gaming tables) announces the result of each hand. Losing bets are collected and winning bets paid even money. The banker hand wins more often than the player’s, as a high number of bets are placed on this bet type and it has a low house edge.

When you play baccarat, you must make your bet before the cards are dealt. You can bet on the Player hand, the Banker’s hand or a tie. The dealer will then deal two cards to the Player and Banker. The player and banker hands are compared to determine which hand has the highest value. The hand with a total closest to 9 wins the round.

Unlike blackjack or poker, the value of a baccarat hand is determined by its total, not individual cards. A nine is worth ten points, while a seven is worth seven points and an eight is worth eight points. A three is worth zero, while a four and a five are each worth one point.

The best way to win at baccarat is to avoid the Tie bet, which has the lowest house edge of any bet in the game. The banker hand wins over 50% of the time, while the player hand wins only 44.6% of the time. Players can also add bets after the initial banker bet has been placed, as long as their total doesn’t exceed the initial banker bet amount. You can also try out baccarat variants like Lunar New Year baccarat, which is based on the lunar calendar. This can change the feel of the game and help you develop a strategy that works for you. However, it’s important to remember that baccarat is a game of chance and there’s no guarantee you’ll win. That’s why it’s important to enter the game with a plan and stick to it. This will prevent you from losing your entire bankroll on baccarat and leave you with nothing to spend on the slots or video poker. In addition, it’s a good idea to set loss and win limits for yourself. This will ensure you don’t lose everything you have and help keep you playing for longer.