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Baccarat, like many casino games, has mysterious origins. Though there is some debate over whether Baccarat originated in France or Italy, a 15th-century Italian man named Felix Falguiere is known to have propagated the game in Italy in a version using Tarot cards.
Falguiere is thought to have based the game on an old Etruscan ritual of the nine gods, who required that a blonde virgin toss a nine-sided die to decide her own fate. If she threw either an 8 or a 9, she became a priestess. A 6 or a 7 got her banned from participation in all future religious events. If she rolled 6 or lower, she had to walk into the sea and drown.
The word Baccarat comes from a dialectical Italian word meaning "zero" and would seem to apply to the value assigned 10's and face cards in the game.
In the French court of the 16th-century, Baccarat gained favor with the nobility. Across the centuries, the game remained popular with the French ruling classes who eventually named it Chemin de Fer, the term for railroad. In the early 1900's, players on the Riviera shortened the name to "Chemmy." Chemin de Fer crossed the channel to England and underwent some rule changes before crossing the Atlantic to Argentina where Casinos in Mar Del Plata (Sea of Silver) attracted many wealthy South Americans.
When Baccarat reached Cuba, where it was called Punto-Banco, it underwent an important rule change. Whereas in the European versions of the game players’ bet against each other and the house received a percentage, in the New World version all players are betting against the house.
Francis "Tommy" Renzoni was a young executive at the Capri Hotel Casino in Havana who observed gamblers playing Baccarat. Tommy moved to Nevada where he convinced the owners of The Sands Hotel, among who were Frank Sinatra, to establish a Baccarat pit. The area was roped off, dealers wore tuxedos. The game's exclusivity made it seem forbidding to the average gambler. To the above-average gambler, however, it seemed a nifty opportunity; Renzoni wrote a memoir in which he says that on the first night of the game's American play, the Sands lost $250,000.
In February 1990, Akio Kashiwagi made history by winning more than $6 million at a Baccarat table in Atlantic City's Trump Plaza casino. Mr. Kashiwagi, nicknamed "The Warrior," had been betting $200,000 per hand. In May of that year, after six arduous days spent wagering, Kashiwagi broke another record by losing $10 million. His total loss, therefore, was only $4 million and he likely considered it a reasonable price for all the entertainment.
Today, baccarat is still one of the most fashionable games among the "aristocracy" and high rollers. Baccarat tables are usually surrounded with elegance that compliments its high-class association; this includes areas with marble, chandeliers, plush chairs and other fine touches. This explains why there are so many stories about rich men and women betting a million dollars at just one sitting.
However, casinos did not want to only reach the high rollers, but wanted to reach out to other gamblers as well, for the purpose of better profits. Therefore, to become accessible to the "everyday" gambler, mini-baccarat was created. The rules of this game are the same as in regular baccarat, except that it is played on a smaller, blackjack-sized table. Essentially, the game is the same, only without the added luxury.
Additionally, mini-baccarat also moves much faster, at approximately five to six hands are dealt every minute, whereas only two to three can be dealt in regular baccarat. This pace does increase as the game goes on, and the more hands that are dealt, the more money you risk winning - or losing - however, the risk of loss isn’t half what it is at the large tables.
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