What does baccarat mean?
Baccarat is a comparing card game in which participants wager on which of two dealt hands — designated 'player' or 'banker' — will finish with a point total closest to nine. Card values are simple: aces count as one, tens and face cards count as zero, and other cards retain their face value, with only the final digit of a hand's sum counting. Once bets are placed, no decisions remain, because fixed rules govern when additional cards are drawn, making baccarat purely a game of chance rather than skill. Long associated with glamour and high stakes, it has historically been favored by aristocrats and wealthy gamblers in European salons, and it remains a fixture of casinos worldwide, particularly in Macau and Las Vegas. The word entered English from France, where the game was known by the 19th century, though its deeper origins may lie in Italy. Its air of exclusivity has made it a recurring prop in fiction, most famously in the early James Bond novels.
nounA comparing card game played between two hands, the 'player' and the 'banker', in which bettors wager on which hand will have a total value closest to nine.
- A card game in which players bet on whether the 'player' or 'banker' hand will total closer to nine, popular in casinos worldwide.
"The high rollers gathered around the baccarat table in the casino's private salon."
"She won three hands of baccarat in a row before cashing out her chips."
"In the film's opening scene, the spy coolly places a stack of chips on the banker at baccarat."
Rarely pluralized; the word almost always refers to the single game. A plural would appear only when referring to multiple tables or sessions of the game.
"The casino floor held several baccarats in its private gaming rooms."
James Bond's signature casino game wasn't poker — he plays baccarat (as chemin de fer) in Ian Fleming's original Casino Royale novels.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of baccarat
Baccarat entered English from French, where the game was called 'baccara' and was well established by the 19th century. The ultimate origin is debated: many sources suggest an Italian root, possibly from 'baccara' or a folk version of tarot-like games, while others trace influence through earlier French card games. The precise date and path of transmission are uncertain, so only its French intermediary can be stated with confidence.
How baccarat is actually used
Baccarat is associated with high-stakes gambling and elegance, often featured in films and literature as the game of choice for sophisticated gamblers. It requires no skill once bets are placed, since drawing rules are fixed. The variant 'punto banco' dominates in North American casinos, while 'chemin de fer' and 'baccarat banque' are traditional European forms.
Easily confused with baccarat
Baccarat (with a capital B) is also the name of a famous French crystal glassware manufacturer, entirely unrelated to the card game.
'Carat' is a unit of weight for gemstones, whereas 'baccarat' is a card game; they are unrelated despite both being gambling-adjacent words.