Baccarat is one of the world’s most popular casino games, with a long history dating back to Italy and France and recently gaining popularity in the United States. It is played on a special table with up to 14 seats for players and two dealers. The game has a simple process: bet on Player, Banker or Tie and watch the cards come out. The winning hand is the one that has a total closest to nine. The final digit is determined by the sum of the pips—the dots on a card that represent clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades—plus the count for face cards.

Before starting the game, you should familiarize yourself with the rules of baccarat. Read the rules of play on a casino’s website or ask a live dealer for clarification. You should also make a budget for your gambling session and stick to it. Avoid chasing losses or trying to recoup your losses with bigger bets. This strategy can deplete your gaming fund quickly and lead to more gambling than you intended. Instead, choose to walk away or change tables if you start losing too much money.

When you’re ready to begin, select a seat at the baccarat table and place your bets. You’ll need to choose casino chips of the desired value, which will depend on the amount of funds you have deposited into your account. Once you’ve placed your bets, the croupier will deal out two cards to both the Banker and Player hands. Then, the croupier will determine which hand has the higher score and declare the winner.

A banker bet wins if the Banker Hand has a total of 9 or 8. The Player hand is the one that wins if it totals 8 or 9. A tie occurs when both the Banker and Player hands have equal values—for example, 7 and 5.

While playing baccarat, you can also place side bets—wagers that don’t depend on which hand wins. Two examples of these bets include all red/all black (betting that a hand will draw only red or black cards) and Double 8 (wagering that the Player and Banker hands will both equal eight).

In addition to the Player and Banker bets, you can also place a Super Six Bet. This wager pays out if the Banker Hand wins with a six, beating the Player’s hand.

You can find baccarat in casinos across the country, from sticky-floor California card rooms to tuxedo-laden Monaco. It is a fun and exciting game to play, but it’s important to keep in mind the house edge and your betting limits. Set a budget for how much you’re willing to spend and stick to it, whether you’re at a real casino or online. It’s also a good idea to take breaks between gambling sessions and limit your daily or weekly spending. If you’re not careful, a night of gambling can quickly turn into an expensive, time-consuming and stress-inducing experience.