There are three main types of baccarat: Punto Banco (sometimes know as “North American baccarat”), Baccarat Chemin de Fer (or “chemmy”),and Baccarat Banque (sometimes know as “Baccarat à deux tableaux”).
Punto Banco is the simplest games and is an out and out game of chance- it’s all down to luck.
Chemin de Fer and Baccarat Banque both involve input from the player- so are more akin to blackjack. Baccarat is very popular with high rollers in Las Vegas, and in particular with savvy Chinese players. This is down to the fact that the house edge in baccarat is very low.
In each variant, there are 3 possible outcomes: “player wins” (player has the higher score), “banker wins” and “tie.
Other variants you are likely to see online are Baccarat Gold (this just refers to the quality of the game play) and High limit baccarat (a game for VIP high rollers with bigger betting limits).
If you are playing online, you can only really play Punto Banco in which the casino bankrolls the game and deals according to a strict set of rules, known as the “tableau”. Punto Banco means “Player Bank”, – the two hands that are dealt in each round (or coup). You can bet on the Player winning, the Bank winning or you can bet on a tie.
Punto Banco has some of the lowest house advantages you’ll see in a casino. The player bet has a house edge of just 1.24%, and the banker bet 1.06%. Compare this to a house edge of 5.2% in American Roulette, and you can start to understand why this game is popular with high stakes players.
