The origins of the game are still disputed, but it’s said to have been created from a deck of tarot cards by Felix Falguiere in Italy, and dates back all the way to the late 1400s! He named the game ‘Baccara’, which is believed to mean zero in some Italian dialects at the time.
The game has evolved since then, and it’s thought that the French we’re responsible for its rise. The game was introduced after the Franco-Italian war in the 15th century. And since the legalisation of gambling in 1907, the game would be played in private gaming rooms across the country.
Baccarat in the UK has been popular for some time. But it’s hard to deny that a certain James Bond might have had something to do with its rise, with the baccarat card game featuring in Ian Fleming’s 1953 book, Casino Royale.