Baccarat

Baccarat is a card comparison game between a Player hand and a Banker hand. You don't play either side. You bet which one will finish closer to 9, or whether they'll tie. The dealer does the rest.

House edges are among the lowest on the casino floor. Banker sits at roughly 1.06%, Player at 1.24%, Tie at a punishing 14% or worse depending on the paytable. Skip the Tie bet. Always. The 8:1 or 9:1 payout looks tempting and isn't. It's a sucker's price dressed up with a nice number.

The game draws high rollers partly because the rules leave nothing for the player to decide. No strategy overlay, no skill gap, no tilt traps. You pick a side, you watch, you settle up. That simplicity is the appeal. It's also why baccarat dominates Macau's floor at a scale nothing else comes close to, while staying a niche game in Vegas where players tend to prefer something they can feel they're "playing."