Procedure of Play
The game of baccarat is played in a snooty roped off area to separate itself from the other games. The players are usually very well dressed and baccarat table minimums are often high. The regular baccarat table is about the size of a craps table with 3 casino dealers and up to 12 or 14 players. Each baccarat player, including the player dealing, may still bet on either the player or the baccarat banker but it is customary for the dealer to bet on the banker.

The deal will rotate around the baccarat table, much like the dice rotate around the craps table. If a player does not want to deal they may pass the shoe to the next player. The same person will keep dealing as long as the banker keeps winning. The person dealing will put two cards, face down, tucked under the shoe, and give the player with the greatest bet on the player the other two cards, face down. This player then looks at the cards and then gives them back to the player who is dealing. Then the baccarat player who is dealing will turn over the cards and one of the casino dealers will announce the totals. Depending on the totals the dealer may then instruct the person dealing the cards to deal a third card. Finally the dealers will pay winning wagers and collect losing ones out of the dealer's tray. The player who actually deals is not assuming any financial responsibility of the other players bets, unlike pai gow, and is just turning over cards.

The score of the player and dealer are compared, the winner is the one which is greater. Winning baccarat bets on the banker pay 19 to 20 (or even money less a 5% commission), winning bets on the player pay 1 to 1, winning bets on a tie usually pay 8 to 1. You may wonder how the baccarat dealer collects the 5% commission on winning banker bets. If they did so every hand it would involve a lot of change and slow down the baccarat game. To avoid this during the course of play the dealer will pay even money to winning banker bets and consider the 5% an IOU. As the baccarat dealer plays through an eight deck shoe he/she will keep track of the commissions every baccarat player owes. At the end of the shoe or when a player wants to leave mid-shoe the dealer will collect on the commissions. Make sure you don't run out of money with outstanding commissions while playing baccarat.

One and Six Deck baccarat
Real Time Gaming online casinos offer a six-deck baccarat game, and Microgaming online casinos offer a single deck game of baccarat. The fewer the decks the lower the house edge on the banker bet and the greater the house edge on the player and tie bets.

Where to Play baccarat
Games of baccarat are becoming very hard to find. In Las Vegas only the largest casinos generally offer the game. Of the four megacasinos at the intersection of Tropicana and the Strip (MGM Grand, New York New York, the Excalibur, and the Tropicana) only the MGM Grand offers baccarat. In downtown Las Vegas only the Golden Nugget offers baccarat and only on weekend evenings. Many places that do offer baccarat only deal it at night (the Luxor and Hard Rock for example).

The table minimum is usually very high in baccarat. During my last Vegas trip I inquired about the minimums at the MGM Grand: one table was $500, one was $1000, and another was a private game. A sign at the baccarat room at the Stardust indicates they have a $25 minimum game (nights only) which is the least I have ever seen. I believe the Las Vegas Hilton has a $100 baccarat minimum. The Silver Legacy in Reno offers big table baccarat in the main casino for a $10 minimum. While I was there nobody was playing baccarat other than myself.