Baccarat is traditionally a game for the wealthy. It's usually played in a separate roped-off area, and the players are often exceedingly well dressed. Baccarat is considered the game of choice for a lot of high rollers and big players. These high rollers, and the treatment they receive, are legendary. Their association with this games adds a certain mysterious and intimidating quality to this game.
Baccarat is really just a guessing game though. For all the style and trappings, it requires no more skill than "rock scissors paper". There are only two hands dealt during each game, no matter how many bettors there are: a Player hand and a Banker hand. Each player bets on which hand will total closer to 9 than the other one. There's no strategy involved in choosing whether to bet on the Player or on the Banker. It's as random a game as keno or slots.
Mini-baccarat has become popular recently, and it's played pretty much the same way as regular baccarat, but the table limits are much lower. So even if you're one of the lowest of the low rollers, you can now play baccarat too. Which is a good thing indeed, because baccarat offers better odds than most other casino games. The house has the edge, and they're going to win in the long run, but their advantage is smaller in baccarat than in most games.
Yahoo's Baccarat Directory is very good, as is
Google's Baccarat Guide. I recommend checking them out too.
