From sticky-floor California card rooms to the tuxedo-laden casinos of Monaco, baccarat is one of the world’s most popular casino games. Its allure is simple: The rules are easy to learn, the game is fast-paced and, most importantly, it drives more revenue than any other table game at casinos in a wide range of price points.

The game’s origins are a bit of a mystery, but it became extremely popular in Europe and then spread to Asia and the US. The rules vary slightly depending on whether you play “punto banco” or the more sophisticated “chemin de fer,” but the basic concept remains the same: Bet on a hand (Player, Banker or Tie) that will have a value closest to nine. If either the player or banker has a total of 9 or higher, the winner is declared.

A cocktail waitress pours doubles of 18-year-old Macallan, cigar smoke curls toward the ceiling and a sense of anticipation fills the room as gamblers gather around the baccarat oval. The baccarat game’s high stakes attract the most affluent players in the world, with some bettors wagering $100,000 per hand.

While the affluent crowd may be intimidating for some casino executives, the game also offers healthy mass business in a variety of price points. This balance, along with a deep pool of VIP and strategic customers, helps to smooth out volatility and reduce the risk of a single large win or loss.

Baccarat players are notorious for keeping score and tracking trends to divine patterns in the game’s outcome. Some of these habits are downright superstitious, but others have a basis in public-domain math.

For example, in Asian cultures the numbers 4 and 14 are considered unlucky, while 8 is thought to bring luck. For this reason, wise casino executives remove those two numbers from the baccarat table layout.

Another factor is the game’s house edge, which can be reduced by using card counting techniques. However, most players do not employ these strategies, and many croupiers are trained to detect them.

There is much more to baccarat than meets the eye, but if you are willing to work hard and stick to your strategy, this beautiful game can offer rewards as rich as Sean Connery’s winnings in the first scene of James Bond. With a little practice, you can be a baccarat pro in no time. Just be sure to bring your lucky hat and a full wallet. And never bet more than you can afford to lose.