There’s no doubt that baccarat is a casino classic and a card game that you’re always likely to find at a gambling spot alongside other options like poker and blackjack. However, it’s not as famous as those other offerings, despite having featured in popular culture on various occasions over the years. It seems that more needs to be done for baccarat to gain the same notoriety as those other card classics. When technology advances and the metaverse comes to the fore, it could be the prime time for baccarat to position itself for a boom.
A video about how to play baccarat
Early Days to Online Live Dealer Games
Most online casino players now will be aware of the modern version of baccarat, which comes in a range of variants. For example, live baccarat has boomed in recent years, and players can choose between titles like Speed Baccarat and Baccarat Squeeze. Because it’s not quite as well-known as other options like blackjack, the games are accompanied by detailed information about how to play. For example, players need to know that the hand closest to nine in value wins. They also have to understand the card numbers that run from zero to nine.
Live streaming has helped baccarat boom in popularity in recent years because it offers an immersive and welcoming way to play the game. The titles are hosted by live dealers who are more than happy to explain the rules of the game as the action unfolds. Prior to the emergence of this well-loved platform at online casinos, baccarat often lived in the shadow of blackjack.
It’s hard to pin down the exact origin of baccarat because various historical sources dispute where it came from in the first place. It could potentially be traced all the way back to the 15th Century when soldiers returned to France after the Italian wars. Most agree that it was well established by the late 19th century, at which point it was mainly played by the French upper classes. The modern format emerged in the 1940s in Havana, where casinos decided to turn it into a house-banked game in which players had to bet on whether they thought the player’s or the banker’s hand would win.
Baccarat Has Been Prevalent in Popular Culture
Baccarat may not be the world’s most famous card game, but it has attracted plenty of players over the years thanks to its prevalence in popular culture. Indeed, baccarat is the game of choice of one of the world’s most famous book and film characters, so this helped it stay relevant over the years as the gambling industry progressed.
James Bond is well-known for his love of casinos, and swanky gambling houses are a staple inclusion in the Ian Fleming novels as well as the Eon Productions pictures. The MI5’s favorite game is baccarat, and he has played it in many key scenes in the franchise’s history. In the world of film, one of the most famous instances of baccarat came outside of the Eon Productions offerings and in the 1967 Casino Royale from Columbia Pictures. In that picture, various different characters pretended to be Bond in an attempt to take down Orson Welles’ Le Chiffre at the baccarat table.
A classic baccarat scene from the 1967 version of Casino Royale
The fact that baccarat wasn’t included in the most recent version of Casino Royale from Martin Campbell in 2006 highlights how the game fell out of the mainstream during the initial casino boom of the 2000s. At that point, poker was blowing up, and the director realized that it would make more sense to use a card game that more people could relate to. It worked out as well, and the film got great reviews.
VR Could Offer Baccarat the Chance to Boom
The main problem that has been holding baccarat back from being one of the best-known online casino games is the fact that blackjack and poker seized their opportunities to boom. When this happened, baccarat was left in their shadows and found it more difficult to appeal to players. This has changed slightly since live streaming made it more accessible, but it’s clear that the game still has a long way to go. Blackjack and poker boomed when the internet was first becoming the mainstream success it is today. Baccarat could pounce on the chance to take advantage of the virtual reality industry, which is expected to blow up by the late 2020s.
According to some projections, the VR market could be worth $87 billion by 2030. That’s a huge increase from now, but it’s merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the potential of this industry. When VR headsets become everyday household items, there’s no doubt that the online casino industry will adapt to this new scenario. There will be new ways to play the games that have never been explored before, and existing offerings could evolve greatly for the new platform.
This future could offer baccarat its chance to shine and to enjoy its own boom in the same way blackjack and poker did. It may take a developer to come up with something innovative that draws new players in, while also appealing to long-term baccarat fans. This could involve giving players the chance to journey to fantasy VR settings where they can play baccarat in new and unique places. This baccarat boom could be helped by influencers who promote it, or by developers forming collaborations with metaverse brands to offer the game. Blackjack and poker are both likely to advance in a VR setting as well, so baccarat needs to try to beat them in the race to adapt this time.
Despite being nowhere near poker and blackjack in playing numbers, baccarat has always managed to stay relevant. Its recent evolution into live streaming could mean that it’s poised to capitalize on the emergence of the VR market over the next decade.
