As the game spread throughout Europe, it was brought by immigrants to the United States, where new Baccarat stories and legends would grow. While the game arrived in America in the early 1900s, it only made its way to Las Vegas in 1958. The author Francis Renzoni claims he introduced the game to casino operators that year.

One of the best stories to come out of the baccarat rooms in the past decade had little to do with baccarat. In late 1991, a group of eight baccarat dealers from the Las Vegas Hilton turned an initial $80 stake ($10 per person) into $103,000 by betting one NFL football game per week, parlaying their winnings, and winning eleven consecutive bets. The dealers' goal was to continue their parlay until they either lost or reached 15 straight wins. Had they been successful, the group would have cashed a $1.3 million profit. The odds against winning 15 straight are about 33,000-1. The odds against winning the remaining four games were only 15-1. Alas, they lost in week 12. The two dealers who made all the winning picks were women.

One popular Baccarat myth is that through persistence and effort, a player will be able to detect patterns in which the cards are drawn and hence, the ways the numbers turn up. There is no truth to this. No study has ever shown a repeatable pattern in the way the cards are drawn. A related Baccarat myth is that once a petite or natural comes up consecutively, it signifies a trend and thus the time to increase the bet. While it does happen, it is merely the product of chance. Each hand is something new, and its outcome can never be determined. If high numbers are coming up frequently, it is purely by chance, and it will even out eventually. Other Baccarat myths, probably inspired by movies and television, claim that having the confidence and correct mental approach is the key to winning. Also, baccarat is not Poker... there is no playing reading applicable here.

While casino brass have mixed feelings about taking on a big bettor who might dent their bottom line, the casino dealers certainly don't. Dealers make the lion's share of their income from tips and a freewheeling baccarat high roller represents a shot at a lucrative payday. One of the biggest tips ever came in the 90's at The Mirage, where a baccarat whale made a single $100,000 bet for the dealer. He won it, adding $200,000 to the dealer's tip pool.

A Baccarat legend, but with some basis in fact, involves naturals. There was a time when the casinos offered players the opportunity to wage on the recurrence of a natural in any hand. This option, however, proved short lived when a man named Ed Thorp devised a counting method that enabled players to predict the occurrence with a great deal of accuracy. It supposedly cost casinos all over the country thousands, if not millions of dollars, that it was removed from the player options. Today not a single casino, land based or online, provides that option either.

ln December 1989, a major Las Vegas Strip casino dealt baccarat with no commission on winning bank bets up to $100. Player had a 1.23 percent advantage, for an expected win of more than $100 per hour. After five days of play, the bosses brought in a detective agency to identify knowledgeable players who were participating in the promotion. Some participants were professional blackjack and poker players. Others just happened to recognize a good proposition. The casino began barring players as they were pointed out by the detectives. Gambling authority Stanford Wong summed it up best: "It looks like the casino is giving away money, but I guess they're particular about who they give it to."

Sometimes when baccarat is played at home or outside a casino the rules are a bid different from when it's played in a casino. When the high rollers play private baccarat outside the casino the player acting as the Banker also has to announce how big his bank is - and the Player can then announce how big a part of the bank he wants to challenge. If the Player announces 'Banco' he is challenging the entire amount announced by the Banker. If this happens only the Banker and the Player announcing 'Banko' will be playing this game. A baccarat gambler acting at the Banker will continue to act as the Bank until he has lost his announced bank - or until he volunteers to pass on the Banker duty to another baccarat gambler.
One of the greatest baccarat gambling stories is about the American multi millionaire John W Gates - at one time when he was playing private baccarat acting as the Banker he announced that his bank had a bankroll of 1 million US$. One of the other baccarat gamblers announced 'Banko'. This meant that the two players would play a single game of baccarat about one million dollars. At this specific private baccarat table the high rollers were playing according to a special rule where the banker deals 3 hands of cards of two cards each. One of the baccarat hands belongs to the Banker but the Player can choose to play any or both hands ('a cheval'). If the Player choose to play both hands he will have to win both hands to win the baccarat game. If he wins one and loses the other it's a tie. With one million dollars on the line Gates dealt 3 hands. His opponent chose to play both his hands - a cheval. Gates one the first hand but lost the second hand - so the game was a tie. But still the game had consequences for Gates - since that game of baccarat he was always referred to as Mr. Bet-a-Million.

In the gambling biz, the highest of high rollers are referred to as "whales," and Japanese gambler Akio Kashiwagi, nicknamed "The Warrior," was one of the biggest whales on the planet. In 1990, Kashiwagi took on Donald Trump in an epic battle waged at Trump's baccarat tables. An agreement was made that Kashiwagi would gamble a stake of $12 million until he either lost it all or doubled it. The Warrior reportedly wagered at a rate of $14 miIlion per hour, and at one point was ahead almost $7 million. His luck didn't hold, however. The "freeze out" agreement was ultimately aborted over a credit dispute. Media accounts indicate that Trump triumphed to the tune of $9 million.

As time goes by, more Baccarat stories will continue to appear to amuse and entertain us. Fact, fiction, or a little of both, it only serves as a reminder of how much the game has become part of our culture.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

ADDITIONS:

Star City Casino, Sydney Australia
(Excerpts from a story in The Age newspaper, May 2001)
If you're a baccarat high roller you might want to give Sydney's Star City Casino a miss. They recently cut their losing commission rate to high rollers and gamblers seduced into their Endeavour Room. The casino used to offer the standard 60% payback commission for players who lost $1million or more, but now offer only 30%. Crown in Melbourne and Jupiters in Queensland still operate at the 60 per cent rate.
The reason for this substantial cut in high roller concessions, is the fact that they were recently cleaned up at their Baccarat tables by a whale who went on a big wining streak and took just under $10,000,000 from the casino in less than a month, before vowing never to return after a dispute with the casino. The casino has since been looking to recoup losses, and it looks like other high rollers will have to wear the bill.
The whale in question was identified as Mo Chan, who according to insiders bet as much as $300,000 to $500,000 on per hand. The action has taken place in the private rooms, so no one knows exactly, but its scale has leaked to other gamblers who frequent Crown's Mahogany Room in Melbourne.
Mr Chan was invited into Star City's lavish Endeavour Room, and later one of their three VVIP" rooms within the Endeavour Room when his propensity to bet was displayed. It was here that his amazing winning streak took place, until he arrived one day to continue play and found that the casino had changed the rules of play. According to insiders, the casino cut its margin of loss on his bets. No matter how big the individual bets, the gap between the bank and the player - the casino's margin for loss - had been fixed for Mr Chan's play at $150,000. Suddenly the casino was only prepared to lose $100,000 a play.
It was then that the outraged Chinese-born player stormed out of the casino, vowing never to return, and took his custom to the equally lavish Mahogany Room of Melbourne's Crown Casino.
"I couldn't understand it," said one insider. "If he had $10 million of my money and was playing a game of pure luck I would want him to stay so that I could get it back."
So, thanks to Mr Chan's incredible streak, and Star City Management's stupidity, high rollers will be inclined now to give this casino a miss when it comes to playing Baccarat.

Bellagio, Las Vegas Nevada(Excerpts from a story in USAToday, April 2002)
During one of his famous gambling binges in Las Vegas, Australian media mogul Kerry Packer, lost $20 million at the Bellagio Vegas in the Summer of 2001, playing his game of choice...you guessed it, Baccarat.
I can only say that the ambience and level of service around those high roller tables at Bellagio must be nothing short of Nirvana-esc, if Mr Packer was happy to hand over that much cash and return for more.
Rumour also has it that Mr Packers appetite for a bet still wasn't fully satisfied. During a discussion with a fellow high roller from Texas, Packer was overheard enquiring as to the Texan's net worth. When the Texan smugly replied "$60 million son", Packer politely asked him if he would like to wager on the toss of a coin for that exact amount. Needless to say the Texan declined the bet after picking his jaw up from off the floor.


Kakavas lost $2million in 43 minutes


May 20th, 2009
GOLD Coast businessman Harry Kakavas wanted to be a professional gambler when he began borrowing money from friends to bet a few thousand dollars at Crown Casino.
Eleven years later, the 'pathological gambler' ended a 16-month, $1.5 billion gambling spree in 2006, by losing more than $2 million in just 43 minutes.
Driven by an 'addiction' to Baccarat, that began not long after Melbourne's first casino opened in 1994, Kakavas suffered losses of $30 million, and according to his lawyers was left broke.
Mr Kakavas is suing Crown Casino in the Victorian Supreme Court for $20.5 million.
He claims the casino allowed him to continue gambling despite knowing he was a pathological gambler and that he was banned from interstate casinos.
Should they lose the case, Crown could be liable not only for the $20.5 million Mr Kakavas claims he is owed, but also for $700 million it is claimed Crown owes Victorian taxpayers for failing to enforce an interstate exclusion order made against Mr Kakavas.
Mr Kakavas, 42, a Gold Coast property developer, took to the stand on Tuesday describing how he began gambling at about the age of 25 in about 1992.
He said he would bet on sports matches at a betting agency then located in the Rialto Tower near his job in real estate.
Intent on a career of full-time gambling, he moved the Gold Coast in 1993 where he bet at Jupiters and met Howard Aldridge who would go on to become a senior figure at Crown. He followed Mr Aldridge back to Melbourne in time for Crown's opening.
Mr Kakavas told the court he began by placing 'relatively small' bets of up to $20,000, borrowing money from friends to place the bets.
He quickly found his way to the Mahogany Room where he rubbed shoulders with Crown developer Lloyd Williams and got to know his stepson John Williams, who was then a gaming attendant.
"By 1995, Your Honour, I became hooked on a game called Baccarat ... quite a simple game to play, really takes no skill at all," said Mr Kakavas.
That addiction, he said, led him to commit a $286,000 fraud against a finance company, which led to him being jailed for four months.
Mr Kakavas described 'standard operating procedure' during his addiction as going to a casino, gambling and losing all his money.
He said he eventually sought help and was referred to Bernard Healy, a psychologist who is an expert in dealing with problem gamblers.
Mr Healy described him as a 'classic pathological gambler'.
Earlier, Crown's lawyer Neil Young QC rejected accusations that Crown had taken advantage of a compulsive gambler.
"There was no effort in any sense of the word to lure Mr Kakavas to Crown," he said.
The trial before Justice David Harper continues on Wednesday.

Nice site

Not a gambler but spent a week at the MGM Detroit a few years ago with a friend.

The waitreses sure wear skimpy clothing there. At the Blackjack table one of them was negotiating fro sex with one of the players. I don't know is that even legal in a casino?

Later in the week my friend was making about $25,000 when the dealer kept busting. I was sitting beside him making a little too. After a couple hours a crowd was starting behind us. He was handing out black chips and i told him to stop maybe they go away. He said no, they are hookers too.