Baccarat has long been a popular game in casinos, from sticky-floor California card rooms to tuxedo-laden Monaco casinos. The game is played by a group of players sitting around a table, with one player acting as the banker and another as the dealer. In the early days, a paper card was used to record results and trends, but today the baccarat tables in major casinos feature electronic displays that show all of this information.

The rules of baccarat are simple. Players place their bets on either the Player hand, the Banker hand, or a Tie. The cards are then dealt, and the winning hand is the one that is closest to nine. A third card may be drawn depending on the total of the two hands.

As with any casino game, it is important to set a budget before entering the baccarat pit. It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of the game and end up spending more than you intended. To avoid this, decide how much you want to spend in advance and treat it like any other night out. If possible, use cash instead of a credit card.

The game is played with six decks of cards and a group of players at a circular or oval table. The first player to play takes the role of the banker and sets an initial betting amount. Players then go in a counterclockwise direction to announce whether they want to “go bank” or bet on the player or tie. When a player decides to bet on the banker, the other players can add additional bets as long as the overall total does not exceed the original banker bet amount.

Once the player and banker hands are dealt, the cards are analyzed to determine the winner. The deciding factors are the total of all the pips on each card (clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades) and the number of nines in the hand. The simplest way to understand this is to think of the number as a score, with 9 being a perfect score and 8 being the second best.

If the Player or Banker hand has a total of 6 or 7 no third card is drawn, and these are called naturals. A third card can be drawn if the total is 0 or 5, but only in the event that the player or banker has a ‘non-natural’ total.

There are also a few special bets in baccarat, such as the Super Six and Pair Bets. The Super Six bet pays out 12x your initial bet amount if the Banker or Player pair of cards win. The Pair bet pays out 11x your initial bet if the Player or Banker pair have matching cards. These bets are not considered a part of the overall strategy of the game, but they can make the experience more exciting.