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The Traditional Game of Faro
History & Rules of the King of Old West Saloon Games

Compiled and edited by Mark Howard,
AKA: The Evil Swede  BCVC #38, SASS #20352 Life, KGC #1

HISTORY ~ RULES ~ RESOURCES ~ IMAGES ~ CREDITS

INTRODUCTION: Faro (also commonly spelled “Pharo”) is an old card game that is not much played today, as casinos tend to favor games where the odds are more clearly in favor of the house. In an honest faro game, the player’s chances are just a little short of even, and are much better than most games found at contemporary casinos. Contrary to what you may have been told, faro is simple to learn and easy to play.  Invented in Europe in the 1700's and introduced to America in 1803, by all accounts, faro was the most popular and celebrated saloon gambling game in the Old West, from 1825 through 1915. By 1925, it had all but vanished, in favor of craps and roulette; other "banking" games that have enticing pay-outs but actually give a much greater "edge" to the house.

faro (card game) (fâr´O) [for Pharaoh, from an old French playing card design], gambling game played with a standard pack of 52 cards. First played in France and England, faro was especially popular in U.S. gambling houses in the 19th Century. Players bet against a banker (dealer), who draws two cards–one that wins and another that loses–from the deck (or from a dealing box) to complete a turn. Bets–on which card will win or lose– are placed on each turn, paying 1:1 odds. From the Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001

Faro is a "banking" game where any number of players (which were then called "punters") play against the dealer or the house, referred to as the "bank". As such, faro dealers often travelled with their gaming equipment from town to town, setting up their faro bank and often risking their personal fortune in a saloon for a fee or running a "house" bank in exchange for a piece (percentage) of the action. In the movie "Tombstone" (1993) you see Wyatt Earp (portrayed by Kurt Russell, pictured below) do this very thing, commandeering an existing layout and the "house" bank in the Orient Saloon. In the movie "Wyatt Earp" (1994) you see Wyatt (portrayed by Kevin Costner) and his brothers dealing faro quite a bit. Faro is also shown in the recent Costner/Duval movie, "Open Range" and many other movies attempting to portray the old west period accurately. Interested in the mistakes in Tombstone's faro scenes? Click the picture above.. Find out for yourself why Faro was renowned as the King of all Old West Gambling Games!

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HISTORY ~ RULES ~ RESOURCES ~ IMAGES ~ CREDITS

"Wichita Faro" is an informative site that features a fantastic, free, full featured, "on-line" version of faro that was created by Sean Gleeson. It is the only on-line play version of faro available and features great graphics and sound effects, using Macromedia Flash.   I highly recommend you check it out for yourself at www.gleeson.us/faro. It is simply amazing.

This website is not maintained for profit. Information is provided here for educational benefit and maintained for the purpose of historical preservation, reference and entertainment. Please check local laws before engaging in any form of gambling or sport gaming.
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