The history of baccarat goes back more than 500 years to medieval Italy. For centuries, baccarat was known as the card game for aristocrats. Only recently, with the creation of the online casino, has the game of baccarat become accessible to regular people from all walks of life.

 

Why is Baccarat so popular? Some might point to the obvious like it’s easy to play, or it’s beneficial to players with its low house edge, or James Bond made it look cool. But surely it must take more than just a simplistic gameplay for it to stand the test of time and transition from the 15th century soldier bivouacs to the glamorous casinos of Las Vegas and today’s cutting-edge online platforms with dazzling live dealers. Let’s first have a look at how it all started.

 

It’s a common belief that although the original creator of baccarat was an Italian gambler called Felix Falguerein, the game became hugely popular only after its introduction to France. In fact, it used to be a common pastime of Charles VIII soldiers during the later years of 15 century. It was in France only that the two primary variations of baccarat – Baccarat en Banque and Chemin de Fer came into being and gained widespread popularity throughout the world later.

Earlier when baccarat used to be played in Italy, it used to be mainly played with tarot cards. It wasn’t until after the passage of a long time that these tarot cards were replaced by the regular 52 cards deck.