History of the Traditional Game of Faro
Compiled and edited by Mark Howard,
AKA: The Evil Swede BCVC #38, SASS #20352 Life
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Many sources say the game of faro originated
in France in the early 18th Century (about
1713), as a revised form of the popular British
pub game, basset, which which traces it roots
back to the game of landsquenet, played by
Teutonic foot soldiers in the 1400's. Basset was outlawed in France by King Louis
the XIV in 1691 and faro was developed by
European gamblers as an alternative that
was also quite popular throughout Great Britain.
Most sources say an early version of
the
traditional game of faro was first
introduced
in the Americas around 1717 in what
was to
become New Orleans, Louisiana, by Scottish
expatriate John Law (1671-1729). Law (pictured right), a fascinating
and colorful historical figure, became a
prolific gambler and literally changed the
course of history through his exploits. Law
was the son of a goldsmith and banker. In
his youth, he was a student, a dandy, a gambling
addict and a prolific player of basset. Law
became involved in an unfortunate duel in
England and because his victim was the son
of a politician, he had to flee England to
Amsterdam, where he continued his studies
in economics and high finance. Later, he
returned to Scottland and in 1705, he proposed
a National Bank and the innovative idea of
printing of paper currency, which was rejected
by the Scottish Parliament and he moved to
France to continue his "playboy"
lifestyle. In 1714, Law was expelled from
France by King Louis XIV for accruing heavy
gambling debts for himself and the King's
young nephew, Philippe II the Duke d'Orleans (for whom
New Orleans was later named). The King also blamed Law for the revival
of basset, in the form of faro, a modified version of the gambling game that
Law had invented to circumvent French gambling
laws. Law returned to France after the King's death
at the request of his friend, Philippe, then
Regent (temporary ruler) of France, he went
on to form the Banque Generale (Royal Bank
of France), print the very first government-backed
paper currency and eventually became the
Controleur General of France. Law established
the Mississippi Company and Compagnie des
Indoes (Indian Trading Company). For 25 years,
his companies held a monopoly on all French-American
overseas trade and he was allowed to sell
"shares" of his companies as a
form of stock, another invention of Mr. Law.
It was for Law that the French word, "millionaire"
was first coined. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Law's
game of faro quickly spread up the Mississippi
on riverboats where it became a favorite
among professional gamblers (which were commonly
called "sharps") and players alike.
Law's exploits and "schemes" were
later blamed for sparking the economic implosion
and financial ruin in 1720 that ultimately
sparked the French Revolution. Law fled France in disgrace and died in Venice,
where he had supported himself by gambling.
While many contemporary economists now feel
John Law was made a scapegoat for the collapse
of the French Economy, he was considered
a villain in French history for over two
centuries in spite of the fact that many
of the concepts and inventions he brought
to high finance that are still in use today.It is said the name of the game was derived or corrupted from the Egyptian Pharaoh pictured on what is now the King of Hearts in the 16th and 17th century French card decks, which were imported to England at the time, although I have yet to find any concrete evidence of this as it seems there are none of these antique "Pharaoh" face cards in existence. I have searched and found a variety of playing cards from that period (the 1700's and earlier) and have not found any such "Pharaoh" face cards cataloged anywhere. If you know of any, please advise.
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| The term “buck(ing) the tiger” is said to
have come from early card backs that featured
a drawing of a Bengal tiger. There have also
been references made to a Royal Bengal Tiger
painted on the outside of travelling faro
cases used in the Civil War Era. Again, I
have yet to find any antique cards or cases
with "tiger" patterns on them. |
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Regardless, since the mid-1800's, the bengal
tiger has been considered the presiding deity
of the game of faro and both "bucking
the tiger" and "twisting the tiger's
tail" have been common euphemisms for
playing faro. In fact, alleys, streets and
districts featuring many gambling parlors
were often referred to as "tiger alley"
or "tiger town," due to the fact
that faro was the predominant gambling game
of the time. Due to low rates of literacy among miners and other laborers, it is said a “Buck the Tiger” shingle or a colorful tiger drawing was usually posted outside a saloon, gambling club or even a barber shop, to indicate an active “Faro Bank” was inside. Some sources say many gambling houses, large and small, had oil paintings of tigers hung above their faro tables. But again, I have yet to actually see evidence of this in stories, pictures, drawings or paintings from the time. |
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By all acounts, the second most popular saloon game of the time was brag (a 3 card game that became 5 card brag) which later evolved into 5 card draw poker. Draw poker ("bluff" or "bluff poker" as it was called then) was actually a rarity on the frontier until the late 1870's. In contrast, almost every saloon in the Old West featured at least one faro bank, particularly during the gold rush period from 1849 to 1890. In 1882, a well documented New York Police Gazette study, estimated that more money was wagered on faro in the U.S. each year, than all other forms of gambling and sport gaming combined. I can pretty much guarantee any photos or paintings of what are believed to be people playing poker prior to 1870, is actually brag. |
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| "A dollar picked up in the road is more satisfaction to you than the ninety-and-nine which you had to work for, and money won at faro or in stock snuggles into your heart in the same way." -Mark Twain (1892) |
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Faro is a fast-paced "banking"
game where any number of players (which were
then called "punters") play against
the dealer or the house, referred to as the
"bank". In contrast, brag and poker are "round" games, where
the players compete against each other using
colored "poker chips" of specified
denominations (values) that are "anted
up" into a common "kitty"
and later cashed in.. |
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| CHIPS & CHECKS: In faro, the individual punters use colored chips (more commonly called "checks" at the time, particularly by serious players) or "markers" that are unique for each player. Usually one of two methods were employed. Each player would get oblong or round colored markers that were of of no value, but were used to mark (or identify) the owner of the bet, which would be placed under the marker with coin, cash or a number of colored valued chips (what would now be referred to as "poker chips"). More commonly, the punter would purchase a quantity of "checks" from the dealer. The punter or dealer would agree upon a value for those "checks" at the time of purchase, the dealer would note the denomination of that particular color chip and only that player used that color, similar to the contemporary game of roulette. |  Antique Faro "checks" and "markers" |
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In the Old West, ordinary faro check (chip)
values ranged from "two bits" (25
cents) to $5, the most common being "four
bits" (50 cents) or a dollar.
$2.50 ("Quarter Eagle"), $5 ("Half
Eagle"), $10 ("Eagle"), $20
("Double Eagle") and even $50 ("Slug")
gold coins were used with a lesser-valued
colored check to bolster a bet. As with most
"banking" games, the dealer often
risked their personal fortune and therefore
set the betting limits (both minimum and
maximum) for their game. |
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CHEATING: As you will soon learn if you do not know already, when played with even a minimum of strategy, the traditional game of faro does not provide any significant edge to the house. In fact, the player's odds are almost as good as the Dealer's (house) odds. As a result, card cheating became commonplace. As the popularity of faro spread, so did the cheating. Sleight of hand, trick decks and other forms of modified equipment were employed to give the house or bank a distinct advantage. A brass dealing box was invented by a Virginia gambler named Robert Bailey in 1822 to address this problem. But, since Bailey's original box design concealed most of the deck, it was not widely accepted and was barred from use in many gambling houses.
Cheating became so prevalent in the United States that American Editions of Hoyle's Rules began their faro section with a disclaimer, actually warning readers that an honest faro bank could no longer be found in the United States. Robert Foster, an early Hoyle Editor once wrote, "..to justify this [initial] expenditure [of opening a faro bank], he [the dealer or financial backer] must have some permanent advantage." By no means were the dealers the only ones cheating at faro! Carefully practiced distraction techniques and sleight of hand by dishonest players as well as professionally manufactured and home-made devices such as the "horsehair copper" or "silk (thread) copper" which was a simple tool, used with a mild diversion, to discreetly pull the copper marker from a bet if that card was not pulled on the losing draw, making it available to win as an "un-coppered" bet with the winning draw. Most proven cheating resulted in gunplay or a brawl, both of which often gave better odds to the player, unless he was in a "brace house" or "skinning den" (both are terms used for a game set up where most of the people in the room were colluding together to cheat an unsuspecting player).
THE DEMISE OF FARO: As time went on, as explained above, professional
faro dealers found they had to cheat to maintain
any real "edge" for the house and
remain profitable. This became more dangerous
as anti-gambling sentiment gained momentum
in settled communities and vigilantism gained popularity on the frontier. After the turn of the century, a variety
of other games with much better odds for
the house (but more enticing payouts for
the players, such as craps and roulette)
quickly surpassed faro in availability and
popularity. In 1900, there were nearly 1000
registered gaming establishments offering
Faro in the Arizona Territory, but in 1907,
Faro was completely outlawed in Arizona.
By the 1930's, gambling been pretty much
outlawed across the nation and the only legal
faro games were in the State of Nevada. As
it turns out, Faro did not have enough of
a profit margin to be offered in underground
gambling venues either and by the 1950's,
there were only five active faro banks known
to have been in existence in all of Nevada.
The renowned faro bank at the Horseshoe Casino
in Las Vegas closed in 1955, the Union Plaza
in Ely closed its faro bank in 1975 and last
faro bank disappeared from the Ramada in
Reno in 1985. Over time, faro came to be
considered old-fashioned and faded into history,
making way for slot machines and other gambling
games that could "earn" more for
the house.One of the greatest injustices to the game of faro was the fact that the books, western films and serials of the 1940's through the spaghetti westerns and popular western TV shows of the 1970's, all disregarded faro in favor of poker. Because audiences (and the writers & directors themselves) were completely unfamiliar with the game of faro, while in contrast, poker was extremely popular and well understood at the time, authors and directors consistently portrayed cowboys playing poker in their books, films and shows because they knew their audience could identify with the game. As a result, several generations have been mislead into believing poker was commonly played throughout the entire 19th century. It was not until John Wayne's last movie, The Shootist, in 1976 that western film makers seriously attempted to "get it right" by portraying faro banks in their movies. But, to add insult to injury, even many of those well intended filmmakers have shown faro being played incorrectly or have added unnecessary derogatory references, inaccurate statements and disparaging comments about the game that have lead to a widespread misunderstanding of the game and those that played it.
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| Three additional on-line articles on the history of faro: |
| "Faro: The Frontier Favorite" January 2003 article by Mark Pilarski Gambling contests that have faded into history (played faro lately?)" Article by Basil Nestor, author of the Unofficial Guide to Casino Gambling. "Former Dealer hopes for return of faro" October 2000 article by Ed Vogel in the Las Vegas Review Journal. ~ If you know of any others, please let us know. E-mail EvilSwede@BCVC.net |
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