History of Baccarat

The history of baccarat starts with the Italians who are believed to introduce the game of baccarat to the French in the late 1400’s. The game’s name may be French but the history of baccarat originates with the Italians. It is presumed that the title came from the Italian word “baccara,” which means zero. Back then in Italy the traditional 52-card deck was believed to have been substituted with tarot cards. Not long after spreading to France, baccarat’s next destination would be to China where it was well accepted and became very popular.

Baccarat history in the United States wasn’t started until the late 19th Century, and it struggled to gain a mass appeal because it was competing at the same time with the introduction of another new and very popular game, blackjack. While baccarat was already a fixture in European casinos, it was only in the 1950’s when baccarat made its debut in Las Vegas casinos. It needed to have a few revisions on the rules but a very similar version produced a version that Americans were comfortable with. This North American version is called Punto Banco.

The game is still transforming and with the help of the internet, online baccarat history is still being written. New adaptations are being designed to appease to different crowds and the game is making strong advancements.