Baccarat has taken the gambling world by storm thanks to its low house edge and straightforward gameplay. It has become the game of choice for high rollers from Asia, but it’s also becoming popular in Europe and America as well. Despite its popularity, many players have questions about the rules, payouts, and betting options of this popular casino game.

In the beginning, baccarat was played slightly differently than it is today. There were multiple dealers, and players could place bets against other players as well as the banker. Then, it moved to neighboring France, where it became a favorite of King Charles VIII and the aristocracy that surrounded him. This version of the game is much more similar to its modern form, which features one dealer and bets against the house.

During each round of baccarat, two cards are dealt to the “Banker” hand and two to the “Player” hand. The aim is to have the hand with a total closest to nine. The score of a hand is determined by adding the values of the individual cards and subtracting the tens digit. For example, a seven and a six add up to 13, but the first digit is dropped because nine is closer to this number than 13 is. Hence, the player’s hand wins if it is closer to nine than the banker’s hand.

The cards are dealt from a 6- or 8-deck shoe, and the table is divided into a “Player” area and a “Banker’s” area. There are usually from seven to 14 seats for players, and they don’t get their own cards. The dealer deals out the cards by placing them in the appropriate areas of the table. Then, players bet on which hand they think will win – either the player’s hand, the banker’s hand, or a tie.

While the objective is to guess correctly which hand will come closest to nine, there are some strategies that can help players maximize their winnings. For starters, players should decide how much they want to spend on their bets before the start of the round. Once they have placed their chips, they should not touch them until the results are announced. This will prevent players from getting carried away and spending more money than they intended to.

There are a few side bets that can be placed in addition to the player, banker, and tie bets. Depending on the platform or establishment, these bets will vary in odds and pay-outs. One popular side bet is the banker pair, which wagers that the banker will receive a pair of identical cards on the deal and pays 11:1 odds. Alternatively, you can bet on the player and banker to both have pairs on the deal, which will pay out 5:1 odds. Lastly, you can bet that neither the banker nor the player will have a pair on the deal, which will pay out 1:1 odds. All other bets have a higher house edge than the Player and Banker hands.