I've never played in a tournament.... has anyone on the forums ever played in a baccarat tournament and can share their experiences?

On the surface, the distinctions between baccarat tournaments and cash baccarat games are minimal.

The most obvious is that when you run out of money in a cash game, you’re free to reach into your pocket to buy some more chips and continue to play. When you lose in a tournament, you have to get up from the table and slink away (and usually go off to join a cash game).

Yet the differences between the forms of baccarat run much deeper. In fact, when the table minimums are deep in a cash game — meaning the players have to put up a lot of money on the table just to play the game — pure baccarat skill carries more weight than it does at many stages of a typical tournament.

“Obviously there are a lot of people who are casual baccarat players, who might sit down and play some baccarat when they go to Las Vegas,” said Bobby Rosa, who helps produce educational baccarat events. “But there’s also a significant market made up of people spending significant amounts of time and disposable income to baccarat, live or online. If they’re serious about winning — and why shouldn’t you be if you’re spending that much time on it? — we’re going to make you better and your results are going to improve.

“It’s that population of people who might not consider themselves professionals, but are serious about their game and want to be able to generate income and have the results to be able to play baccarat indefinitely.”

“Tournament players get the fame, the glory, especially when someone wins a big tournament, because of all the TV coverage, especially in Asia, and the online attention afterward,” Rosa said. “But a baccarat player’s longevity and success are largely determined by their cash-game play. Even good tournament players, if they’re cashing in 10 percent of the events they play in, they’re considered an excellent player, whereas most baccarat players have to earn their living at the cash games, to grind it out.

“For a lot of players, it’s often their success in the cash games that allows them to take a portion of their bankroll and play in tournaments. That’s the reason we’re doing a cash game academy.”

Many baccarat players, for example, parlay their success in the cash games into some strong showings in major tournaments.

Rosa's cash game academy will include seminars, question-and-answer sessions, live play workshops and video analysis. It will also include a cash baccarat competition with a spot at stake in a special tournament for academy participants at a baccarat tournament in Macau.

“What people like the most is when the pros are sitting at the table with them doing analysis,” Rosa said. “These guys are all really approachable and very passionate about baccarat. I think people appreciate being in that kind of learning environment.”