History of Baccarat

We take a look at the history of baccarat.

The true origins of baccarat are not known in detail; however, there are a few legends that date the game back to as early as the late 15th century.

The oldest legend is that of an Italian gambler named Felix Falguierein. It’s said that he invented the game using a deck of Tarot cards and based the narrative for the game on an old legend of nine gods. The nine gods were waiting for a virgin who was to throw a nine-sided dice. As the story goes, in order for the woman to become a priestess, an eight or a nine would need to be rolled, whereas rolling a six or a seven would result in the woman being banned from any further religious activities. Unfortunately, rolling one to five would result in the woman having to walk into the sea.

A fine tale! However, legends aside, historical records can trace baccarat back to France during the late 1490’s. Known then as Chemin de Fer, it was a game for distinguished members of society. It wasn’t until a few hundred years later that baccarat become popular in Europe, and more than a hundred years still before it took off in the US.

Since then, the game has become very popular and has been included in many parts of pop culture, including books and movies. It was James Bond’s favorite game, and it was even featured in the 2007 movie “Rush Hour 3”, starring Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker.