The game Baccarat (BAH-kA-rah) appeared first in Italy in the middle of the 15th century. The name of the game comes from the Italian word baccara which means zero. At the beginning the game was played with cards of Tarot deck. However, very shortly it was transferred in France. There it became very popular, evolved as European Baccarat and after small alterations, it was renamed in Chemin de Fer (that is Railway).
Even though the game is is possessed by an aristocratic “elegancy” and glamour, however it is about the simplest game of the casino despite the fact that plenty of players have the sense that the game applies to the minority of the players. And it is indeed the simples game, because it is framed by severe and predetermined rules which are applied strictly. Beside that, it is the game that gives to the casino the lowest C.A. from the rest of the casino’s games.
In Greek casinos neither the Baccarat nor the Chemin de fer aren’t played, but a version of Baccarat, the Punto Banco or Nevada Baccarat or American Baccarat which we shall describe analytically in the followings. The Punto Banco first appeared in England and was disseminated in South America, while in the end of 1950 it appeared in Las Vegas after the decision of the Cuban Government to close down all the casinos in Havana.
Synoptically we have to mention that the Punto Banco is a simple and quick game that is conducted between two opponent sides. The one side is the ” Punto ” or ” Player ” and the other side is the ” Banco ” or ” Banker ” or ” Bank “. The philosophy of the game as we shall ascertain next is very simple. Any of the two opponent sides has a higher sum in its cards, is announced the winner in every round of the game. The maximum sum in the cards that the Player or the Banker can have is the 9. So, the player is called to predict which one of the two opponent “hands” of the Player or of the Banker will have a sum closer to nine. Next it follows an analytical description of the game Punto Banco.
The game Punto Banco
The table of the game Punto Banco
The usual form of the table of the game Punto Banco appears in the following draft.
Draft 8-1 . Usual form of Punto Banco’s table
The layout of the table has 14 numbered positions (draft 8-1) for counterpart sitting players. Other layouts have numbered seats for 12 players as it appears in the drafts 8-2, 8-3.
Draft 8-2 . Punto Banco table for 12 players
Draft 8-3 . Another Punto Banco table for 12 players
A usual form of the layout of the table Punto Banco is also the one of the draft 8-4, where in every side of the layout there are seven numbered positions. In the one side the positions are numbered from 1 to 7, while in the other side the position are numbered from 8 up to 15 (the number 13 is left out for “obvious” reasons).
Draft 8-4 . Another usual form of the Punto Banco table for 14 players
In counterpart layouts of 14 positions the numeration of the positions of the two sides can be less different than the one mentioned before. Usually it is: (1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 
in the one side and (9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17) in the other side.
Apart from the numeration of the positions, on the layout of the table of the Punto Banco we also discern the three offered bet areas which are implied with the phrases “PUNTO”, “BANCO”, “TIE” (8-1) [or in other layouts with the counterpart, of a conceptual meaning, phrases "PLAYER", "BANKER" "TIE" (8 to 1)].
In the area PUNTO the bets are placed in favor of the “Player” side, on the area Banco are placed the bets in favor of the “Banker” area while on the TIE area are placed the bets in favor of the tie [the phrase TIE (8-1) declares that the profitable bet for tie is paid 8:1].
The game is controlled by three dealers and is inspected by the inspector of the table Punto Banco who usually supervises the whole transaction of the game sitting on a solemn position on the head of the table.
The two dealers stand in the middle of the internal side of the table where we meet the position in which the chips are placed (chip tray). These dealers pay the bets that win, gather the bets that lose and note down the commission that each one of the players owes in each one of the two sides of the table. * The one of these two dealers services the the one side, that is the players of the positions 1 to 7 while the other dealer services the other side, that is the players of the positions 8 to 14. The third dealer sits in the middle of the opposite side, that is he is opposite to the other dealers. This dealer is called “caller” and is responsible for the resonance and the whole transaction procedure of the game (he mixes the cards, directs the players based on the rules of the game, gathers with the paddle the cards that are played in every “fold” and throws them to the special rift that lies at the center of the table of the Punto Banco etc.).
In the middle of the table of the Punto Banco there is a special slot (rift). The one of the three dealers that are used for the game’s procedure, the “caller”, takes with a special wooden paddle and throws in the rift the used cards (the cards that “have been played” in every round).
On the left and on the right of the table and towards the side of the two other dealers there are two other rifts. In one of these are placed the banknotes that the players give in order to take Cash chips for the game’s needs, while in the other are placed the tips that the players give to the dealers.
For the standing players who wish to bet in favor of the Banker, there are specific numbered bet places bilaterally of the table’s layout.
Also, from the side that there is the position of the two dealers, there is the special place where are placed the chips (chip tray) and in the front usually printed on the table’s layout, a series of numbered squares from 1 to 14 which are counterpart to the players’ positions on which the dealers place chips that represent the commission the every player owes (if he owes any) from his bets.
