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Faro (card game)
Encyclopedia
Faro, Pharaoh, or Farobank, is a late 17th century French gambling card game
descendant of basset, and belongs to the lansquenet
and Monte Bank
family of games, in that it is played between a banker and several players winning or losing according to the cards turned up matching those already exposed or not.
Although not a direct relative of poker, faro was played by the masses alongside its other popular counterpart, due to its fast action, easy-to-learn rules, and better odds than most games of chance. The game of faro is played with only one deck of cards and allows for any number of players, usually referred to as "punters".
, was easy to learn, quick and, when played honestly, the odds for a player were the best of all gambling games, as records Gilly Williams in a letter to George Selwyn in 1752.
in the 19th century to become the most widespread and popularly favored gambling game. Also called "Bucking the Tiger", which comes from early card backs that featured a drawing of a Bengal Tiger, it was played in almost every gambling hall in the Old West
from 1825 to 1915.
Faro's detractors regarded it as a dangerous scam that destroyed families and reduced men to poverty because of rampant rigging of the dealing box. Crooked faro equipment was so popular that many sporting-house companies began to supply gaffed dealing boxes specially designed so that the bankers could cheat their players. Cheating was prevalent enough that editions of Hoyle’s Rules of Games began their faro section warning readers that not a single honest faro bank could be found in the United States. While the game became scarce after World War II
, it continued to be played at a few Las Vegas
and Reno
casinos through 1985.
word fairadh, pronounced "fearoo", meaning "to turn". It could have been brought to England and France through the mass emigration from Ireland
, in particular in the aftermath of the Flight of the Wild Geese
. Also the Irish Brigade
served in France and may have brought the term with them.
The faro table was oval, covered with green baize
, and had a cutout for the banker. A board with a standardized betting layout consisting of one card of each denomination pasted to it, called the "layout", was placed on top of the table. Traditionally, the suit
of spades was used for the layout. Each player laid his stake on one of the 13 cards on the layout. Players could place multiple bets and could bet on multiple cards simultaneously by placing their bet between cards or on specific card edges. Players also had the choice of betting on the “high card” bar located at the top of the layout.
Certain advantages were reserved to the banker: if he drew a doublet, that is, two equal cards, he won half of the stakes upon the card which equaled the doublet. In a fair game, this provided the only "house edge". If the banker drew the last card of the pack, he was exempt from doubling the stakes deposited on that card. In most cases, when three cards remained, the dealer would offer a specialized bet called "calling the turn", with the house paying to the players who can identify the exact order of the last three cards a 4-to-1 (since the real odds of naming the order is 5 to 1) payout and a 1-1 payout if there is a pair, called a "cat-hop".
Playing card
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic, marked with distinguishing motifs and used as one of a set for playing card games...
descendant of basset, and belongs to the lansquenet
Lansquenet
Lansquenet is a card game. Lansquenet also refers to 15th and 16th century German foot soldiers; the lansquenet drum is a type of field drum used by these soldiers.-Game play:The dealer or banker stakes a certain sum, and this must be met by the nearest to the dealer first, and so...
and Monte Bank
Monte Bank
Monte Bank, Mountebank, Spanish Monte and Mexican Monte, sometimes just Monte, is a Spanish gambling card game and the national card game of Mexico. It ultimately derives from basset, where the banker pays on matching cards...
family of games, in that it is played between a banker and several players winning or losing according to the cards turned up matching those already exposed or not.
Although not a direct relative of poker, faro was played by the masses alongside its other popular counterpart, due to its fast action, easy-to-learn rules, and better odds than most games of chance. The game of faro is played with only one deck of cards and allows for any number of players, usually referred to as "punters".
France
The earliest references to a card game named pharaon are found in Southwestern France in the late 17th century (1688) during the reign of Louis XIV.England
Pharaoh and basset, the most popular card games of 18th and 19th century Europe, were forbidden in France during the reign of Louis XIV on severe penalties, but these games continued to be widely played in England during the 18th century. Pharo, the English alternate spelling of PharaohPharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
, was easy to learn, quick and, when played honestly, the odds for a player were the best of all gambling games, as records Gilly Williams in a letter to George Selwyn in 1752.
United States
With its name shortened to faro, it soon spread to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the 19th century to become the most widespread and popularly favored gambling game. Also called "Bucking the Tiger", which comes from early card backs that featured a drawing of a Bengal Tiger, it was played in almost every gambling hall in the Old West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
from 1825 to 1915.
Faro's detractors regarded it as a dangerous scam that destroyed families and reduced men to poverty because of rampant rigging of the dealing box. Crooked faro equipment was so popular that many sporting-house companies began to supply gaffed dealing boxes specially designed so that the bankers could cheat their players. Cheating was prevalent enough that editions of Hoyle’s Rules of Games began their faro section warning readers that not a single honest faro bank could be found in the United States. While the game became scarce after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, it continued to be played at a few Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
and Reno
Reno
Reno is the fourth most populous city in Nevada, US.Reno may also refer to:-Places:Italy*The Reno River, in Northern ItalyCanada*Reno No...
casinos through 1985.
Etymology
Historians have suggested that the name Pharaon comes from Louis XIV's royal gamblers who called the game pharaon because of the motif that commonly adorned one of the French-made court cards. Another idea traces the name to the IrishIrish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
word fairadh, pronounced "fearoo", meaning "to turn". It could have been brought to England and France through the mass emigration from Ireland
Irish diaspora
thumb|Night Train with Reaper by London Irish artist [[Brian Whelan]] from the book Myth of Return, 2007The Irish diaspora consists of Irish emigrants and their descendants in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa,...
, in particular in the aftermath of the Flight of the Wild Geese
Flight of the Wild Geese
The Flight of the Wild Geese refers to the departure of an Irish Jacobite army under the command of Patrick Sarsfield from Ireland to France, as agreed in the Treaty of Limerick on October 3, 1691, following the end of the Williamite War in Ireland...
. Also the Irish Brigade
Irish Brigade (French)
The Irish Brigade was a brigade in the French army composed of Irish exiles, led by Robert Reid. It was formed in May 1690 when five Jacobite regiments were sent from Ireland to France in return for a larger force of French infantry who were sent to fight in the Williamite war in Ireland...
served in France and may have brought the term with them.
Description
A game of faro was often called a "faro bank". It was played with an entire deck of playing cards. One person was designated a "banker" and an indeterminate number of players could be admitted. Chips (called "checks") were purchased by the punter from the banker (or house) from which the game originated. Bet values and limits were set by the house. Usual check values were 50 cents to $10 each.The faro table was oval, covered with green baize
Baize
Baize is a coarse woollen cloth, sometimes called felt in American English based on a similarity in appearance.-Usage:...
, and had a cutout for the banker. A board with a standardized betting layout consisting of one card of each denomination pasted to it, called the "layout", was placed on top of the table. Traditionally, the suit
Suit (cards)
In playing cards, a suit is one of several categories into which the cards of a deck are divided. Most often, each card bears one of several symbols showing to which suit it belongs; the suit may alternatively or in addition be indicated by the color printed on the card...
of spades was used for the layout. Each player laid his stake on one of the 13 cards on the layout. Players could place multiple bets and could bet on multiple cards simultaneously by placing their bet between cards or on specific card edges. Players also had the choice of betting on the “high card” bar located at the top of the layout.
Procedure
- A deck of cards was placed face-up inside a "dealing box", a mechanical shoe used to prevent manipulations of the draw by the banker and intended to assure players of a fair game.
- The first card in the dealing box is called the "soda" and is "burned" off, leaving 51 cards in play. As the soda is pulled out of the dealing box, it exposes the first card in play, called the "banker's card". This is placed on the right side of the dealing box. The next card exposed after the banker's card is called the carte Anglaise (English card) or simply the "player's card", and it is placed on the left.
- The banker's card is the "losing card". All bets placed on that card are lost by the players and won by the bank. The player's card is the "winning card". All bets placed on that card are returned to the players with a 1 to 1 (even money) payout by the bank (e.g. a dollar bet wins a dollar). A “high card” bet won if the player’s card had a higher value than the banker’s card. The banker collects on all the money staked on the card laid on the right, and he pays double the sums staked on those on the card remaining on the left (in the dealing box). The dealer settles all bets after each two cards drawn. This allows players to bet before drawing the next two cards.
- A player could "copper" his bet by placing a hexagonal (6-sided) token called a "copper" on it. Some histories said a penny was sometimes used in place of a copper. This reversed the meaning of the win/loss piles for that particular bet. An abacusAbacusThe abacus, also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool used primarily in parts of Asia for performing arithmetic processes. Today, abaci are often constructed as a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wires, but originally they were beans or stones moved in grooves in sand or on tablets of...
-like device, called a "case keep", is employed to assist the players and prevent dealer cheating by counting cards. The operator of the case keep is called the "case keeper".
Certain advantages were reserved to the banker: if he drew a doublet, that is, two equal cards, he won half of the stakes upon the card which equaled the doublet. In a fair game, this provided the only "house edge". If the banker drew the last card of the pack, he was exempt from doubling the stakes deposited on that card. In most cases, when three cards remained, the dealer would offer a specialized bet called "calling the turn", with the house paying to the players who can identify the exact order of the last three cards a 4-to-1 (since the real odds of naming the order is 5 to 1) payout and a 1-1 payout if there is a pair, called a "cat-hop".
French terms used in Faro
- By 1870, the words used in the game were a mixture of French and English words and spellings.
- Banker - The person who keeps the table.
- Taillèur (Dealer) - Generally the banker.
- Couche or Enjeu - The stake.
- Coup (a Stroke or Pull) - Any two cards dealt alternately to the right and left.
- Croupier (Croup) - An assistant to the dealer
- Doublet - When the punter's card is turned up twice in the same coup, then the bank wins half the stake. A single paroli must be taken down, but if there are several, only one retires.
- Fasse - The first card turned up by the Banker, by which he gained half the value of the money laid upon every card of that sort by the punters or players.
- Hocly - The last card but one, the chance of which the banker claims, and may refuse to let any punter withdraw a card when eight or less remain to be dealt.
- Livret - A suit of 13 cards, with 4 others called Figures. One named the little figure, has a blue cross on each side and represents ace, deuce, tray; another yellow on both sides, styled the yellow figure, signifies, 4, 5, 6; a third with a black lozenge in the centre, named the black figure, stands for 7, 8, 9. 10; and a red card, called the great or red figure, for Jack, Queen, King: those figures are useful for those who punt on several cards at once.
- L'une pour l'autre (One for the other) - Means a drawn game, and is said when two of the punter's cards are dealt in the same coup.
- Masque - Means turning a card, or placing another face downwards, during any number of coups, on that whereon the punter has staked, and which he may afterward play at pleasure.
- Oppose - Reversing the game, and having the cards on the right for the punter, and those on the left for the dealer.
- Pli (Bending) - Used when a punter, having lost half his stake by a doublet, bends a card in the middle, and setting it up with the points and foot towards the dealer, signifies thereby a desire either of recovering the moiety, or of losing all.
- Ponte or Punt (Point) - The punter or player.
- Pont (Bridge) - The same as paix.
- Paix (Peace) - Equivalent to double or quits; that is, when the punter having won, does not choose to paroli and risk his stake, but bends or makes a bridge of his card, signifying that he ventures his gains only. A double paix is, when the punter having won twice, bends two cards one over the other. Treble paix, thrice, etc. A paix may follow a seven, fifteen, or thirty, etc.
- Paroli or Parolet-Double - Sometimes called cocking, is when a punter, being fortunate, chooses to venture both his stake and wins, which he intimates by bending a corner of his card upwards.
- Cocking - See Paroli.
- Paix-Paroli - When a punter has won a paroli, wishes then to play double or quits, and save his original stake, which he shows by doubling a card after making his first paroli; double-paix-paroli succeeds to winning a paix-paroli; treble-paix-paroli follows double, etc.
- Sept et le Va (Seven and it goes) - Succeed the winning of a paroli, by which the punter being entitled to triple his stake, risks the whole again, and, bending his card a second time, tries to win seven-fold.
- Quinze et le Va (Fifteen and it goes) - When the punter having won a sept, &c., bends the third corner of the card, and ventures for 15 times his stake.
- Trente et le Va (Thirty and it goes) - Follows a fifteen, etc., when the punter again tries his luck, and makes a fourth paroli.
- Soitraitte et le Va (Sixty and it goes) - When the player having obtained a thirty, ventures all once more, which is signified by making a fifth paroli, either on another card, if he has parolied on one only before, or by breaking the side of that one which contains four, to pursue his luck in the next deal.
In culture
- In a famous scene from War and PeaceWar and PeaceWar and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...
by Leo TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, Nicholas Rostov loses 43,000 rubles to Dolokhov. - Friedrich Freiherr von der Trenck makes mention of playing faro in his memoirs (February 1726– 25 July 1794); he was a Prussian officer, adventurer, and author.
- Faro is central to the plot of Alexander Pushkin's story "The Queen of SpadesThe Queen of Spades (story)"The Queen of Spades" is a short story by Alexander Pushkin about human avarice. Pushkin wrote the story in autumn 1833 in Boldino and it was first published in the literary magazine Biblioteka dlya chteniya in March 1834...
" and Tchaikovsky's opera The Queen of SpadesThe Queen of Spades (opera)The Queen of Spades, Op. 68 is an opera in 3 acts by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to a Russian libretto by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, based on a short story of the same name by Alexander Pushkin. The premiere took place in 1890 in St...
. - In "Showboat" by Edna Ferber, the gambler Gaylord Ravenal specializes in the game of Faro.
- Numerous references to faro are made in the HBO television series DeadwoodDeadwood (TV series)Deadwood is an American Western drama television series created, produced and largely written by David Milch. The series aired on the premium cable network HBO from March 21, 2004, to August 27, 2006, spanning three 12-episode seasons. The show is set in the 1870s in Deadwood, South Dakota, before...
. - Casanova was known to be a great player of faro.
- The 18th century Whig radical Charles James FoxCharles James FoxCharles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...
preferred faro to any other game, as did 19th-century American con man Soapy SmithSoapy SmithJefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II was an American con artist and gangster who had a major hand in the organized criminal operations of Denver, Colorado; Creede, Colorado; and Skagway, Alaska, from 1879 to 1898. He was killed in the famed Shootout on Juneau Wharf...
. It was said that every faro table in Soapy's Tivoli Club in Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, in 1889 was gaffed (made to cheat). - The famed scam artist Canada Bill JonesCanada Bill JonesCanada Bill Jones was the working nickname of William Jones, a noted confidence artist, riverboat gambler and card sharp. He has been described as "without doubt the greatest three-card-monte sharp ever to work the boats, perhaps the greatest of them all."-Life:Born in a Romnichal tent in...
loved the game so much that, when he was asked why he played at one game that was known to be rigged, he replied, "It's the only game in town." - In Misfortune by Wesley Stace, Pharaoh is named after his father's profession, a faro dealer.
- Wyatt EarpWyatt EarpWyatt Berry Stapp Earp was an American gambler, investor, and law enforcement officer who served in several Western frontier towns. He was also at different times a farmer, teamster, bouncer, saloon-keeper, miner and boxing referee. However, he was never a drover or cowboy. He is most well known...
dealt faro for a short time after arriving in Tombstone Arizona having acquired controlling interest in a game out of the Oriental saloon. - John "Doc" HollidayDoc HollidayJohn Henry "Doc" Holliday was an American gambler, gunfighter and dentist of the American Old West, who is usually remembered for his friendship with Wyatt Earp and his involvement in the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral...
dealt faro in the Bird Cage Theater as an additional source of income while living in Tombstone, ArizonaTombstone, ArizonaTombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...
. - Numerous references to faro are made in the WesternWestern (genre)The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
radioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
drama GunsmokeGunsmokeGunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
, staring William ConradWilliam ConradWilliam Conrad was an American actor, producer and director whose career spanned five decades in radio, film and television....
. - The town of Faro, YukonFaro, YukonFaro is a small town in the central Yukon, Canada, formerly the home of the largest open pit lead–zinc mine in the world as well as a significant producer of silver and other natural resource ventures. The mine was built by the Ralph M. Parsons Construction Company of the USA with General...
was named after the game. - Lord Strongmore in John William Polidori's The Vampyre plays Faro in Brussels.
See also
- CommerceCommerce (card game)Commerce is a 19th century gambling French card game akin to Thirty-one and perhaps ancestral to Whisk Poker and Bastard Brag. It aggregates a variety of games with the same game mechanics. Trade and Barter, the English equivalent, has the same combinations, but a different way of acquiring them...
- PhatPhat (card game)Phat is an English trick-taking partnership card game derived from the 17th century game of All Fours. It is not considered a stand-alone game, but instead a variation of this one...
- CassinoCassino (card game)Cassino, also known as Casino, is an Italian fishing card game for two, three, four players in two partnerships, or even theoretically five players. It is the only one to have penetrated the English-speaking world, via Italian immigrants to America. First recorded just before 1800 , it seems to...
Additional reading
- Tom and Judy Dawson, The Hochman Encyclopedia of American Playing Cards, Stamford, CT: US Games Systems Inc., 2000. ISBN 1-57281-297-4 (Gives historical account of Faro cards in the US, extensively illustrated.)
- John Nevil Maskelyne, Sharps and Flats, (London: 1894; reprint, Las Vegas: GBC. ISBN 0-8950-912-5
- J. R. Sanders, "Faro: Favorite Gambling Game of the Frontier", Wild West Magazine, October 1996
External links
- Newspaper articles: 1880s games of chance Faro, Poker, Keno, Spanish Monte, Stud, Nutshell, Deadwood Poker blog
- "Former dealer hopes for return of faro", Las Vegas Review-Journal