As one of the most popular games at online and traditional casinos today, players may wonder where baccarat originated. The truth is that baccarat enjoys a long and interesting history, based on a legend nearly 2000 years old!
Around the 14th century, when card games were becoming a popular form of entertainment, it is believed that one of the earliest forms of baccarat was being played in Italy, based on a 2000 year old legend relating to nine gods. The game quickly became appealing to the population and came to be known as baccarat. The popularity of baccarat spread across Europe, especially to France where it became known as ‘chemin de fer’. In fact, baccarat was so popular in France that the population actually claimed the game as their own and it became a jealously guarded pastime among the French nobility who refused to disclose its rules to the ‘common’ casinos of the time!
Over the centuries, the game of baccarat reached the shores of South America, especially among the parlors of the continent’s nobility. The wealthy population of Argentina became obsessed with chemin de fer and, yet again, the game’s popularity spread across South America to Cuba where it experienced a slight change in the rules. It was at this point in time that American baccarat was created.
In the 1950s, a casino owner from Havana took his expertise to Nevada and introduced the game to local gambling establishments. Baccarat was an instant success among American gamblers looking for a new and exciting game with a low house edge, easy rules and an exotic touch. American baccarat is the game most played in American casinos today, while a slightly different version, chemin de fer, is played in Europe.
When the online casino hit the scene in the 1990s, baccarat made an almost seamless transition to the wonderful world of the internet. Today, the baccarat game can be found in literally thousands of online casinos on the web and is played on a daily basis by millions of players who can access a game within seconds and play from the comfort of their own homes. Exciting baccarat tournaments, progressive baccarat games and other twists keep players coming back for more. The future of baccarat looks excellent as software companies create games that are more and more realistic with each passing year.
While baccarat falls into the category of known as games of chance (as opposed to skill games) many people think that nothing that they do – or don’t do – will affect the way the outcome of their game. They feel that because they don’t need to learn a certain strategy connected to baccarat, they can go into a game ‘any old way’ and simply begin playing. However, contrary to this belief, there are actually several vital tips that players have to take into account before starting out in a game of baccarat. Without considering these tips, the outcome may be quite different.
Baccarat Tip #1:
Avoid betting on a tie in a baccarat game: If you bet on a tie, your chances of winning are the lowest among all other bets. True, if you hit a lucky streak and win a tie bet, the payouts are excellent. But unless you’re a high roller and don’t care how much you lose, this is one bet you should steer clear of.
Baccarat Tip #2:
Take into account the house commission: Remember that if you win the banker’s bet, you owe the house 5% ‘commission’. The banker’s bet has a slightly higher chance of winning than all the others and this is a way for the house to keep its edge. Keep this fact in mind when making your bets.
Baccarat Tip #3:
Use baccarat strategies wisely! We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: baccarat is a game of chance and so all strategies are based on common sense and willpower. Don’t waste your hard earned money on fly-by-night schemes that promise to reveal the ‘ultimate baccarat strategy’. Simply put, there is no such thing!
Baccarat Tip #4:
Quit while ahead: If you hit a lucky streak at the online casino and you’re doing well in the game of baccarat, don’t wait for your luck to run out! As tempting as it may be to keep going, remember to quit while you’re ahead. The chances are that you’ll have made yourself a tidy profit and you can try your luck again at the following gaming session.
No card game is more popular at online casinos than the game of blackjack. The beauty of the game is that it blends skill and chance into one exciting pastime that is much sought after in the world of online and offline gambling. New players to the game may be eager to jump in and start playing, but before they do, they’d be wise to learn as much as they can about blackjack. Following are some of the best tips relating to the game:
Blackjack Tip #1: Play with a Basic Blackjack Strategy:
Because blackjack depends on how well a player knows how to go about the game, there are certain things that one can do to significantly bring the house edge down. One of these is learning the basic blackjack strategy that was developed over the years to bring players the information they need to make the best move with any given hand dealt, so that their odds improve dramatically. The basic blackjack strategy, ideally, should be learned by heart, but a player can easily use props such as laminated cards to assist them through the first stages, before they learn how to automatically apply the basic strategy.
Blackjack Tip #2: Develop a Sound Money Management System:
Nothing cuts losses like knowing how to manage ones bankroll successfully. This is one thing that truly separates mediocre gamblers from the good ones – and it has nothing to do with skill or luck either! A good gambler will know how much money he or she REALLY has to play with, and will limit play sessions and funds spent at all times. A good gambler doesn’t chase losses and will never play while under the influence of alcohol.
Blackjack Tip #3: Practice Blackjack Online:
The online gambling world is full of sites that are only too happy to have players try out their games for free. Downloading free blackjack software and playing in practice mode is one of the best ways for players to hone their skills, apply the basic strategy and slowly gain enough confidence to finally move into real-money play. Practicing blackjack in play free game mode is also one of the best ways to protect one’s bankroll initially.
Although European roulette came first, it is the American roulette style that has the longer pedigree.
Exactly when people first began wagering over the spin of a wheel is anybodies guess but the first roulette-like games appeared in Europe during the 1700s. The early games may have come from various sources including the Far East where the Chinese taught European traders original games that may have been the harbingers of roulette.
By the end of the 18th century Parisian casinos were offering a standardized roulette and gamblers flocked to place bets on the spinning wheel. Original roulette wheels had the numbers from 1 to 36 and two zeros allowing for 38 possible outcomes. The game was a crowd puller and the cream of European society could be found around the felt tables as huge sums of money were made or lost. The game spread across the Atlantic and US gamblers caught the roulette craze.
During the 1800s another version of roulette gained popularity in Europe. Rather than two zeros the new European roulette game had only one, giving just 37 possible outcomes. This small but significant change increased the winning odds of the player and understandably became very popular eventually ousting its predecessor. At about that time Monte Carlo became a casino hotspot and its gambling houses offered the new version of roulette. The fame of Monte Carlo helped boost the new European roulette and the 37-slot wheel eventually became the standard in Europe.
However, the original form of the game survived in America where casinos preferred to keep the odds just the way they had always been. Casinos continued to play with a 38-slot wheel and this eventually became known as American roulette. The arrangement has remained to this day and if you enter US casino then American roulette is most likely the game you will find.
For those in doubt, it easy to tell which style of roulette is being played at a table. European roulette tables mark numbers on the table with the same colors as they are found on the wheel itself whereas at an American roulette table all the numbers are printed in the same color on the green table. Failing that – or if playing on an online casino - just look at the number of zeros available – it’s a dead giveaway!
It’s a typical day in the office and I thought I’d spend five minutes of my break – like you do –playing around in the wonderful online funhouse otherwise known as Youtube. I rather like the cross dressing 888 adverts (I’m from the same neck of the woods as Vic Reeves so it would be scandal not to) and I’m also rather amused by the poker advertisements considered unacceptable in the UK that Full Tilt are still going to run.
And so I thought, why not see what else is out there? Let’s try Casino.com! So I tried. What came up when I typed in Casino.com – let me tell you –wasn’t what I expected! Unless something has changed …unless something has gone very wrong overnight and I’ve ended up living in a parallel universe.We’re still offering an online casino, right?
Well…it’s had over 70,000 views over the last year so it’s got to be popular somewhere! How about we make it gambling related after all – what’s the odds of one of the girls getting an accidental kick to the shin?
