While several online casino games embody the lavish and snooty impression that casinos like to advertise, baccarat does the best job of fitting this mold. Baccarat tables are where all of the millionaires hang out, and the betting limits are normally high enough to where only the high rollers consider playing this game. At this point, you may be wondering, “where did this glamorous baccarat reputation come from?”
The facts
Well, baccarat didn’t start out so glamorously; in fact, it has been overshadowed throughout most of its existence by blackjack. However, the tide began to turn for baccarat when it was introduced to South American casinos and became popular in England during the mid-1900s. Soon many of England and South America’s elite were playing baccarat thus making it a popular high stakes game.
Baccarat’s reputation as a high roller game was furthered when Ian Fleming wrote about it in his James Bond novels. The popular 1953 novel Casino Royale pitted fictional secret agent James Bond against SMERSH member Le Chiffre at the baccarat tables. Given Bond’s classy appearance and the fact that baccarat continued appearing in future James Bond novels and movies, it became known as an elitist game.
James Bond wasn’t the only one playing baccarat in the ’50s and ’60s though as the game was reintroduced to Las Vegas casinos around the same time. Wealthy gamblers who had turned their nose up to the game originally were using it as a means of separating themselves from the rest of the casino floor.
This is a big reason why today’s version of land-based baccarat features roped-off sections where only VIP members can play. The majority of baccarat players dress in tuxedos and gamble with more money than most people make in a month.
However, online baccarat has made the game affordable and fun for anybody to play. No longer do you have to be a tuxedo-wearing yuppie to play this ritzy game.
Learn more about Baccarat here in our Baccarat Guide
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