A game of tuxedos and champagne, baccarat is one of the more luxurious casino games. But it’s also easy to learn and doesn’t have the house edge that other casino games like blackjack or roulette do. It’s no wonder that baccarat has been so popular, and Sean Connery was even known to play the game in his first Bond movie.

There are some basic rules to baccarat that every player should know before betting real money. For starters, players should be aware of the payout odds and how to calculate a winning hand. Also, it is helpful to know when a third card will be drawn and what the difference between a banker and player hand is.

The goal of baccarat is to place your bet on the hand that totals closest to nine, without going over. A winning Player or Banker hand wins your stake, and a winning Tie bet pays 8 to 1 (though the payouts may vary depending on the online casino and version of the game you’re playing). In case of a tie, your stake is returned to you.

There are many baccarat strategies that you can use to increase your chances of winning. For example, a simple system is the Labouchere System, which uses a sequence of numbers to determine your bet amount. If you lose, you double your bet. If you win, you move back two steps in the series for your next bet size.