Whether you’ve played in sticky-floor California card rooms or the tuxedo-laden casinos of Monaco, chances are good that at one point in your life you’ve seen a game called baccarat. It’s a table game that has cultivated an aura of sophistication, almost as if it were an exclusive club reserved for high-rollers and James Bond types. But it’s a simple game with a low house edge that’s easy to learn, and it drives more revenue for casino operators than any other table game.

Baccarat is played with six, seven or eight standard decks of cards, and the goal is to correctly predict which hand will win — player, banker or tie. Players sit around a circular or oval table, and announce their bets in counterclockwise order. The first player to go “bank” sets the initial betting amount, and other players can add to this total as long as they don’t exceed it. Once a bet has been placed, the dealer will deal one card to the Player box and another to the Banker box. If the sum of the two cards equals 8 or 9 (the highest possible score), a win is declared and bets are paid out. If either hand fails to equal 8, 9, or is a tie, the dealer will draw a third card.

Most baccarat players can’t articulate their strategies until after the game is over, but a former card counter who has been banned from global blackjack pits named Francois has developed a definite strategy that works — and one that he refuses to divulge. It’s a game that’s not for everybody, but for those who can master its rules and avoid the delusional motherfuckers who stare at results screens all day, baccarat is the least intimidating game on the casino floor.

Despite the Bond-dipped mystique, the game of baccarat has a beautiful Zen-like minimalism: you bet on player or banker and the side that gets closest to nine (picture cards count as zero, aces are one) wins. A minimum bet varies from $20 to $25 in the United States, but higher stakes are common – $100,000 bets are not unheard of in places like Macau.

Casino management has responded to customer demands for more efficient result-tracking by installing electronic scoreboards and “prediction” screens, which advise customers if the winning outcomes will “streak,” repeat or “chop.” These systems also allow players to keep track of their past successes and losses.

The best advice for playing baccarat is to set a fixed budget before you begin. It’s easy to get caught up in the thrill of the game, but you’ll be more likely to walk away with a big profit if you know how much money you can afford to lose before you start. And if you do end up losing some money, remember to quit while you’re ahead. Otherwise, you’ll be tempted to try to recoup your losses by increasing your bets and potentially risking even more.