I know it will never happen again , never ever.  But I sure do miss the old school Baccarat rooms and the high limit rooms—ran and patronized the way they used to be, which also held the original bac tables. 

The tables were all two-sided with a capacity of 7 people each side, having their own plenty of space area.  No back betting, no handing money to another, no capping wagers, etc., etc.  There was one dealer standing that would call the cards, once the person that had the shoe slid the cards to the dealer standing.  Yes, each person physically had possession of the shoe and dealt the cards.  The person kept the shoe as long as that person made Banker winning hands, when the person made a players winning hand the shoe was passed to their right.  The person having the shoe could wager for Bankers or Players.

It was considered bad luck and uncool by all means to pass and not take the shoe, or pass the shoe if you made a Banker and didn't desire to deal additional hands.  If you were wagering for Banker, you would slide a card out of the shoe and to the dealer standing face down.  Then you would put the next card under the corner of the shoe face down.  Then you slide the next card for the players to the dealer face down, as well as another card for the banker under the corner of the shoe.  If you were wagering on Players side, you would slide the 2 face down Bankers cards under the shoe to the dealer and the dealer would slide you the Players two cards.

If no one was on players you could tell the dealer standing to flip the cards or hold them face down.  Then you would look at the bankers side cards you had wedged under the shoe.  On rare occasions at certain casinos, one could ask permission to pass the Bankers cards to another person.  If anyone was wager on the players side, then the dealer would slide them face down to whomever had the highest wager or whomever several said to pass them to.  Then you would expose the bankers side cards.

If needed, the dealer standing would call for a third card for the P or B or both.  Those would also go to whomever turned over the first two.

Shoe started in Seat 1 and travelled counterclockwise.  Where the shoe ended, the next shoe would begin in the next spot.  New cards of course each shuffle.  But a real shuffle, unwrap the new cards, mix-wash-shuffle. A true 20-30 mins between shoes easily.  Old cards put in a zip lock bag, marked, tagged and taken away. 

There were no electronic scoreboards.  Most all kept their score and notes on a house provided scorecard and decent pen.  Usually a two color pen at most places, blue and red ink.  Also, no side bets at all.  Only B, P and Tie. 

Most people were not playing a few hands by any means.  Sure a very limited amount of people would come on and play a small amount of hands, then leave, but not many.  Most of those type were frequenting the mini bac lower limit tables on the main floor.  Virtually no one dressed as the majority does today or should I say post late 90's.  Meaning no ripped jeans, no hoodies, no sweatshirts, no shorts, no ultra casual errand running clothes.  Guys had on slacks, dress shirts, Tommy Bahama style shirts, etc.  Women had on dresses, pants suit outfits, skirts and blouses, etc. 

Besides the dealer standing that would call and handle the cards, there would be two banker dealers seated with 2 completely independent chip racks.  One for each side of the table.  There would also be one floor person standing behind each side of the table, the entire shoe.  All dealers and floor people had 20-30 min breaks and got tapped out, etc. 

And as long as the person with the shoe was making Banker winning hands, no dealer or floor could go on break until the next winning player hand.  Same thing with a chip fill arriving at the table, shoe could not be brought in until the next winning player hand was made. 

Before the highest majority of all big bac tables were removed and replaced with minis, midi-Macau style tables, the people playing had the option of playing the big table mini style, where as one of the two seated chip rack dealers would deal the shoe and flip the cards, etc. 

But all in all, the whole atmosphere and level of camaraderie were heads and tails over what it is today.

Personally, if I was a casino owner or shift manager, I would never let the players at a baccarat table touch the cards or the shoe or anything else....because you might end up with this kind of unfortunate situation......


https://highstakesdb.com/news/high-stakes-reports/phil-ivey-and-the-20million-edge-sorting-saga-ends-a-timeline

All midi/Macau style bac games, then and now, have every single card-every single deck replaced for every single subsequent shoe, period. 

Might hold true in poker, not in bac. 

At many of the casinos today, there is still player handled cards, but unlike the previous days of 'big table bac' the gamblers do not hold the shoe itself.n

Unlike Phil Ivy and Don Johnson, player handled cards could never ever lead to any advantage by marking them or anything similar. 

alrelax:

"...I know it will never happen again , never ever.  But I sure do miss the old school Baccarat rooms and the high limit rooms—ran and patronized the way they used to be, which also held the original bac tables.
..."

    I agree 100%. I started playing around early 2000 or so and the big table was already being fazed out. Mostly see the big table in vegas now. I seldom see Midi tables except Vegas/Biloxi and a couple in Black Hawk,Colorado.


"...Virtually no one dressed as the majority does today or should I say post late 90's.  Meaning no ripped jeans, no hoodies, no sweatshirts, no shorts, no ultra casual errand running clothes.  Guys had on slacks, dress shirts, Tommy Bahama style shirts, etc.  Women had on dresses, pants suit outfits, skirts and blouses, etc.    ..."

    I see that relaxed dress code as well at most places. Especially during the day weekdays. Weekend players sometimes dress a little better it seems. I encourage all of us to try and keep the standards high. When at nicer cas markets I still wear a light sport coat with a short sleeve polo, casual pants, casual leather type shoes...etc. I immediately pull the jacket off and place on chair / get comfortable.
I would say at casinos in midwest most in evenings are coming from work so often dressed a little nicer if their occupation requires better dress code. Most don't wear a sport coat but above average dress. Some of the ladies still dress classy.
Though I do see a slippage from just 10-15 years ago.

I sometimes still see better attire at Bellagios in vegas and Beau Rivage in Biloxi. Mostly at upper limit tables >=$100 it seems.

"...
But all in all, the whole atmosphere and level of camaraderie were heads and tails over what it is today..."

    I concur.



Continued Success,