The role of the bank can be played differently and this the main difference between different Baccarat variations. In Baccarat Chemin de Fer different players play the role of the banker, which passes form player to player in the clockwise direction every time the shooter loses. Throughout the game the player who plays the role of the banker will be provided with funds. If you don’t want to play the role of the banker it will be automatically passed to the next player. The objective of each version of the game is the same: to reach 9. In Chemin de Fer, the banker deals four cards for each of the players and for himself; each participant now turns over the cards and adds the numbers on each together. If your total is lower than 5 you’d better draw, if the total is 5 or higher you’d better stand. Then the banker compares all the hands and the player with the closest to 9 hand is the winner and he gets paid.

The origin of Punto Banco has always been discussed. Punto Banco is said to have originated from George Raft’s Capri casinos in Cuba. The game's creator, Tommy Renzoni, stated in his book that Punto Banco, as it was called in Cuba, was brought to Las Vegas by him in the late 1950s. Renzoni wrote that his game owed its roots to European "Chemin de Fer" via Argentina. He claimed that the night of the game's first modern American play, the Sands casino lost 0,000. In Italy the game of Baccarat appeared in the 1480s from a deck of tarot cards. The word ‘baccarat’ means ‘zero’ in Italian, that’s why the game got its name ‘baccarat’, as the value of most cards is zero. Early Baccarat stories claim that the game is based on an old Etruscan ritual of the nine gods, who prayed to a blonde virgin on their tiptoes waiting for her to throw a nine-sided die. Her fate was dependent on the result of the die. If an eight or a nine was thrown, she would become the priestess. In the case of 6 or 7 the virgin was prohibited from any further religious activities. If any other number was rolled she could walk into the sea.
In the 1500's, Baccarat was introduced to the French by the Italians. The game was then called "Chemin de Fer." However, the French also claim credit for inventing Baccarat. Either way, the French aristocracy, always seeking new and different idle pastimes, warmed to the game immediately. Then, in the 1950's, Baccarat made the long voyage from France to Argentina. It landed at the casinos of Mar del Plata, home to the South American upper echelon.