Baccarat is one of those casino games that most gamblers have heard of but most have never actually tried to play and the reason is that in most land based casinos the minimum stakes are set high but now that the game is available in online casinos there is no reason not to give it a go. Despite the mystery surrounding the game Baccarat is in fact very simple as there are only three possible bets and three possible outcomes namely the bank wins, the player wins or it is a tie. The game is also sometimes called Punto Banco which refers to the player (punto) and the bank (banco) and it is unusual in that you get the chance to bet on the bank winning. If you stand and watch a playing table without reading the rules you will understand absolutely nothing as the counting of the cards is very different from any other game; a full explanation is given in out Baccarat section. The way the cards are valued is interesting but you do not actually need to understand it as the dealer or the computer in the case of online casinos knows. There can be no strategy as you are not actually playing any of the cards and all decisions about drawing cards or not follow strict rules; the most likely outcome is that the bank wins but for that reason it pays less than evens whereas a player win pays evens. A tie does not happen too frequently so it pays at increased odds, check the individual table you are playing. Baccarat is a fast moving game at which you stand a good chance of winning and now that you can play for small stakes or even play free baccarat there is no reason not to give it a try..