The number one casino game in the world is a bit of a mystery to many American casino-goers. Baccarat traces its history to the gambling
salons of Italy and France, but within the past thirty years its rise in
casinos-mostly in Asia but increasingly in the United States-has made
it a game that casino managers and gamblers alike are flocking to.
?????How big is baccarat worldwide? Casinos in Macau have, since they dethroned Las Vegas in 2006, made more money than those in any other
city in the world. Last year, Macau’s 40 casinos made more than 88
percent of their $33.2 billion from baccarat. Singapore casinos likewise
get much of their revenue from the game, and even on the Las Vegas
Strip-where many visitors don’t even know the rules of the game-it
accounts for 18 percent of total casino win. The only game that produces
more win for Strip casinos is slots, and there considerably more slot
machines in Las Vegas than baccarat tables.
Bill Zender, a former Nevada Gaming Control Agent, casinodealer and executive, and current consultant, literally wrote the book on managing
casino games. He’s seen baccarat grow considerably over his 40 year
career.
“Before the influx of Asian players, to get people interested in the game, we really had to dress it up,” he says. “So you had the big double
tables, dealers in tuxedos, and attractive women in evening gowns
standing around. It was very James Bond.”Zender says that, over the past
twenty years, Asian high rollers have almost universally made baccarat
their game of choice because it is uniquely suited to their cultural
preferences.
“The cards are shuffled, and they are put into the dealing shoe,” he says. “There is no hitting or standing for the player-it is all based on
pre-determined rules. So they believe that their luck flows into the
shoe. This is very important. It used to be that we would burn
[discard"> a card if a dealer made an error, but when we did that the
Asian players would leave the table; they thought it ruined their luck.
So we started saving the card and dealing a dummy hand instead.”
