Playing baccarat for free online is a good way to learn the game. Not that it’s difficult to learn baccarat, but free games give you a chance to become completely familiar with it before you risk your cash.

At  http://wizardofodds.com/play/baccarat/ there is a simple version of the game you can play. The site has a tutorial on the rules and strategy of the game, and there’s an option to have questions answered if you have any.

At  http://www.ildado.com/free_baccarat.html there is another game with some good graphics. It offers up some helpful links but doesn’t teach much about the game.

At  http://www.classicasinos.com/free_baccarat you can find a flash free version of the game. There are no time limits or downloads.

You can also find free baccarat games on some online casinos. Golden Palace Casino, Vegas Red Casino and Grand Online Casino all have free baccarat games available without having to buy into the casino.

Playing baccarat online has a few advantages over playing in the regular casinos. First of all, you don’t have to go anywhere and can play from the comfort of your own home. But the main reason to play online is because of the bonuses. You’re not going to find too many casinos that are going to give you 50-100 % of your buy-in extra to play with when you walk in the door. Online casinos will do that. And there won’t be any other players to confuse you or rush your decisions.

The game itself offers the best odds in the casino, with a very small edge going to the house. The game is fast-paced and you can play more hands per hour than a lot of other games. And there isn’t much strategy involved in playing, so it’s a great game for beginners to test out the waters online.

Baccarat has long been a high-roller game because the house usually only holds an edge of 1.06% over the player. The game is as simple as can be, and is as close to betting on a coin flip as you can get. That means that strategy is pretty much non-existent.

The best thing you can do at the baccarat table is to bet on the dealer every time. That means you don’t pay commissions on winning hands and improve your odds. Not very exciting, but it’s one of the best bets you’ll find in any casino.

If you can find a 9:1 tie bet at a baccarat table, this also improves your odds. Only Binion’s Horseshoe Casino in Vegas and BodogLife online casino offer these improved odds. Some casinos will lower player-win commissions to as much as 2.5%; this is the kind of baccarat game you’re looking for.

Poker, even though it has been around for what seems like forever, has taken the pop culture world of gambling by storm with is own list of celebrities, groupies and the like. Trends always come and go so my prediction is that the game of Baccarat may be soon dealing its own version of gaming celebrities.

As you probably already know the famous 007’s game of choice is baccarat. “Casino Royale” the newest of the James Bond movies was adapted from Ian Flemmings novel with the same title. In Flemming’s version, the British Bond out bets the Russian Le Chiffer – (Le Chiffer’s name being a play on the game Baccarat Chemin de Fer). However, if you’ve gotten a chance to see the movie, you’ve noticed that this version passes on that idea and opts for a showdown between the 2 at a game of poker.

This change is enough to take notice of pokers popularity but, back in reality, Macau, the new casino hot spot, Baccarat seems to be the game of choice. The Sands Macao casino claims that it has the most gambling tables of any other casino in the world, and most of them are baccarat. Also the newer Wynn Macau Casino has 200 gambling tables and again, baccarat is the dominant table on the floor.

Across the ocean in North America on the Las Vegas strip some of the most important players are Asian and most of them high rollers betting up to millions of dollars inside the VIP salons on baccarat.

If you want to take an early jump on my predicted new gambling trend you might want to start brushing up on your game. Here’s a list of online casinos that can clean up your skills or get you started:

- Bettor’s Luck
- Online baccarat
- Golden Tiger
- Bodog
- Latest casino bonuses

Baccarat was a James Bond favorite because it’s long been considered the most recognizable high-roller game in Europe. Casino Royale was the first book in the series penned by Ian Fleming, and it was written in the early 1950s. Baccarat was the game of choice for the time.

The Bond image has always been about being the best at the hippest game. In Casino Royale, Bond was out to beat the movie villain’s baccarat game. Fleming claims he got the idea from a night at the casino in Portugal when he was cleaned out by a German agent playing Chemin de Fer. That game is a form of baccarat, although different from the version we know in today’s casinos.

Now that poker is all the rage, Bond is not only an expert baccarat player but also an ace poker player. The new version of Casino Royale had Bond playing poker instead of baccarat.

The game of baccarat is believed to have been first played in 15th-century Europe in the Italy / France region. It’s also believed to have been invented by Italian gambler Felix Falguierein. The word means “zero” in Italian so Italy has the best claim to the game but it’s widely debated as to who really invented it. Aristocrats of the period enjoyed card games, and baccarat quickly became popular.

There are three versions of the game that have evolved over time. There is “baccarat chemin de fer” (railway), “baccarat banque” (a deux tableaux) and “punto banko” (North American). The North American version of the game is played in casinos today, and is purely a game of chance.

The game also has a legend about a princess who had to throw a nine-sided die for the Gods. If she threw a nine or eight she would become a priestess.

If you would like to learn how to become a baccarat priestess check the following instructional video from baccarat legend John Patrick- take special note of the light-blue suit, a must for all baccarat afficionados.