Baccarat is one of the most recognizable casino card games. It’s featured in many James Bond movies and is popular at casinos around the world, especially in Macau where it accounts for over 80% of all casino income. While baccarat might look intimidating, it’s actually quite easy to learn and is an exciting game to play.

Baccarat involves two competing hands – the Player hand and the Banker hand. The dealer deals two cards for each and reveals them to everyone at the table. After that, the players can place their bets on whether the Banker hand will win, the Player hand will win, or if the game will end in a tie.

When betting on the Banker, you’ll pay a 5% commission to the house, but this is well worth it for some bettors since the odds of winning are higher. On the other hand, if you’re betting on the Player side, you won’t have to pay any commission at all, but you’ll only have an edge of around 4.8% of the time.

In addition to the regular baccarat table, there’s also Mini Baccarat which is much more popular at online casinos. It accommodates only six players (in land-based casinos) on each side of the table and they compete against the banker. This is a smaller version of the baccarat table, but it follows the same rules and objectives. The only difference is that the Player spot doesn’t represent a real player, but rather a virtual player that competes with the banker’s cards.