Baccarat does not succumb to pressures of recession
By Liz Benston, Las Vegas Sun
No casino game may be more intimidating than baccarat, typically played at high limits in elegant, sequestered rooms with tuxedoed dealers, attentive casino managers and waitresses quick to appear with fine cocktails.
It was played by European royalty in the 13th century and by James Bond in the 20th, memorialized in such stylish films as “Dr. No” and “Casino Royale.”
And yet, for a game wrapped in mystique, baccarat is one of the simplest games in a casino. Were it repackaged as a carnival game at a county fair, its aristocratic trappings stripped away, it could be called “Count to Nine.”
The baccarat played in the United States and many other countries requires no skill. Moves are forced by the cards players are dealt. Simply put, the two- or three-card hand closest to the value of nine wins, excluding face cards and “10” cards that are worth zero.