Baccarat History - Learn About One of the Oldest Card Games
Baccarat’s history is said to go all the way back to medieval Italy. The origins of the card game are debatable, but most believe it was created in the 1400s by a man named Felix Falguierein or Felix Falguiere. He called the game “baccara”, which translates to “zero”, as all tens and face cards were valued at zero (the French spelling “baccarat” would be adopted later).
This original version of baccarat was not played the same way it is today. Cards were dealt by four dealers, each player could be the banker, and players could place bets against fellow players and against the house. In today’s game there is one dealer, bets are typically placed against the house, and the house also fills in the banker role.
From Italy, baccarat travelled to France, where it was known as Chemin de Fer, or “Chemmy”. King Charles VIII and his noblemen loved the game, and Chemin de Fer remained a hit with the French aristocracy for centuries.
Baccarat also caught on in England, where Ian Fleming learned how to play the game before creating the world’s most famous baccarat player: James Bond. As more time passed, baccarat cropped up in South America and in the Caribbean, where under the name of Punto Banco, it adapted to the local culture. The main changes included the players playing against the house only, and the banker role being reserved solely for the casino. This kind of baccarat is what we now know as “American Baccarat”.
In the late 1950s, Tommy Renzoni shipped the game over to the Sands casino in Las Vegas, and the rest, as we say, is history. Baccarat may have not caught on with the public the same way games like roulette and blackjack have, but it still enjoys an air of exclusivity and prestige with many casino goers.
