If you want to have some James Bond-style gambling fun on your next Vegas trip, baccarat is the table game for you. It’s simple to play and there are only three possible outcomes: Player Win, Banker Win and Tie. The dealer does all the work and you just sit back and enjoy the action. But there are a few things you should know about Baccarat before you head to the tables.

Unlike blackjack or roulette, where players must learn many different strategies, baccarat is pretty much a one-trick pony. It only has two basic bets—Player and Banker—and the tie bet is typically off limits in most casinos. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get some bang for your buck by making the right bets.

First of all, you have to understand how the cards are scored in baccarat. Each hand is dealt a two-card combination, and the hand closest to nine wins. Tens and picture or face cards count as zero, jacks are worth 1 point and queens are 2 points. Aces count as 1.

In addition, the dealer takes a 5% commission on winning bets on the banker’s hand only. This is a big part of why the game can be so lucrative for casino operators. But it also means that you should always bring more money to the table than you think you might lose. That way you’ll be able to keep playing even when you’re losing.

While baccarat has its share of fans, it isn’t for everyone. Typically, it attracts large bettors who play for hours, letting their money change hands several times over. That’s why you’ll find it in high-limit areas of the casino where gamblers are ready to put down some serious cash. It’s not uncommon to see a few hundred thousand dollars change hands over the course of an hour in a baccarat session.

So, does baccarat have staying power as the casino patron base shifts? Snow certainly hopes so. He feels the recent changes to the game—like commission-free baccarat and mini-baccarat with lower stakes—have helped bolster its profile.

Moreover, he believes that new developments like Bonus Spin Xtreme will further open the game to more players and make it more appealing to casino floor visitors. The new system can link all table games in a casino and offer a single progressive jackpot—the first of its kind. This will be a major boost for baccarat as it seeks to expand its presence across the globe.