The actual origin of baccarat is lost in history, however some historians claim that there is no reliable record of the game before the middle of the nineteenth century, and the game originated in Italy. The game is thought to be a spin-off of the French game vingt-et-un (twenty-one), the game we know as blackjack. It is similar in that the goal is to get as close as possible to a set number without exceeding it. Baccarat differs from blackjack in several ways:

1. The total aimed at is nine rather than twenty one.
2. If the total is exceeded the player doesn't automatically lose. Rather, the total cycles around a base of 10, so that if the total is greater than 9, 10 is subtracted from the total to obtain a number between 0 and 9. For example if the hand contains an 8 and a 5 the total of 13 has 10 subtracted from it and it is treated as a 3.
3. The 10, Jack, Queen, and King have a value of 0 (10 minus 10 = 0)
4. The ace has only one value; 1.
5. The decision to pull another card is determined by a fixed set of rules, and is not left to the players judgment (in most versions)

1. Chemin de fer : This game is played in some European casinos, but is not played in the U.K. and North America. The goal is the same (to get as close to 9 as possible) but the rules allow a few conditions where drawing a card is optional. The casino doesn't play the role of banker, the players bet against each other, the players take turns being the banker-dealer (the option may be declined, and it then passes to the next player to the right) the house takes a standard cut out of the player banker's winning coup.
2. Baccarat : This game is the only game played in the U.K. and North America. The goal is the same (to get as close to 9 as possible) however the game is strictly mechanical with formal rules dictating every aspect of play. The house banks the game, thus the bets can be much larger than when another player is acting as the bank, also with the house assuming the role of banker the game can be played with as few as one player (in chemin de fer you have to wait for additional players before the game can start)
3. Mini-baccarat : A new version of the game. The game is played at a blackjack sized table with up to seven players. The rules are the same as for the full version of baccarat, however to speed up the game the players don't touch the cards they are dealt by the casino dealer. The stakes are much lower for this game than the full version, this plus the less formal atmosphere make this version appeal to many players.

Choosing An Online Casino
Source : Max Drayman (www.winneronline.com)

You'd think that picking a casino site would be a pretty simple affair: where do I win the most? Or maybe: who's got the highest stakes? These are certainly relevant questions and do keep them in mind when surfing around to make your choice. But there are other things to consider, not all of which may be immediately obviousBiggest Payouts This is pretty difficult to determine because everyone wants to be in the list of "top 10" or whatever. The best thing to do is visit player resource sites, like this one for example, and read reviews.Another helpful source, though by no means fool-proof, is to check out the winner lists at your favourite casino site. All the better sites have these lists. If they're an IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) member then they're supposed to be truthful in their advertising, which gives you a little more confidence in their reported payouts.Look First, Download Later Nobody wants to spend 30-120 minutes downloading software without having some idea of what you're going to get. Better casino sites have a "Preview" section that shows you snapshots of what their games look like, maybe even provide you with a description of how to play. The software you download can get pretty annoying if you don't like its appearance or play action, so look for the "Preview" section and take a few minutes to check it out.How quickly can you receive your winnings? Believe it or not, there are sites that only make their payouts on the last Friday of the month, for example. Or they may require that you send them email expressly requesting your winnings. Or maybe your withdrawal transactions have to be pre-approved and the site advises that that can take up to two weeks. These are examples of actual casino sites! The last Friday of the month?! Are they for real?Support All the better online casinos have a support page at their website. They'll list the ways that you can reach them. Almost everybody offers an email address that you can mail to for assistance. Is that good enough? Not for my money it isn't. I want service numbers I can call, hopefully 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And toll-free too, please and thank you. Better yet, give me two toll free numbers, just in case. Can you assume that your casino provides this? Certainly not! Go look, check the details. Hell, I'd even call the toll free number just to make sure it's not an answering machine that's got so many messages on it that it can't accept yours. Sound outlandish? Not a chance! Been there, seen that. It's your money, so you decide how much this matters.Licensing Etc This is a pretty slippery issue but it boils down to this: online casino regulation is a "voluntary compliance" issue. In other words, the casino plays fair if it wants to play fair. A license in Antigua costs a site $100,000, for example, and then they can say they are "licensed". There is no follow-up required and no compliance issues to obey. If they advertise that they are audited, that's nice, but they don't have to do this.

The Roulette table is composed of two sections, the wheel itself and the betting layout, better known as the Roulette layout. Heading the layout design is a space containing the figures 0 and 00. The main portion of the design is composed of 36 consecutively numbered rectangular spaces, colored red and black alternately, arranged in three columns of 12 spaces each, and beginning with 1 at the top and concluding with 36 at the bottom.

Located directly below the numbers are three spaces marked 2 to 1. Along one side of the columns are rectangular spaces marked 1st 12, 2nd 12 and 3rd 12. Further outside are spaces labeled 1 to 18, 19 to 36, Odd, Even, and two diamonds colored Red and Black. Each space, individually or in combination with other spaces, represents a possible wager.

The Roulette wheel, has 38 small compartments, called canoes, divided by partitions called frets. The compartments correspond to the numbered spaces on the table layout. Pairs of odd numbers are alternated with pairs of even numbers and individual spaces alternate between black and red. The two zeros are green in color and are placed at opposite ends of the wheel.

The wheel is set into motion by the Roulette dealer, called the croupier, and a small ivory ball is sent spinning in the opposite direction around the inside rim of the wheel. As the ball and the wheel begin to slow, eventually the ball comes to rest in one of the 38 canoes and represents the winning number.