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In the movie "Tombstone" (1993, starring Kurt Russell as Wyatt Earp) is arguably one of the greatest contemporary western films of our time and undoubtedly a classic in the western genre, by all measures. Unfortunately, much of the research done for the film was very poorly done for a big budget movie that was intended to be an "epic" film, from the very start. The layout and play of faro in "Tombstone" is completely wrong.. something many were not aware of due to the fact that few moviegoers have any clue about the game. In "Wyatt Earp" (1994, starring Kevin Costner as Wyatt Earp), the layout is accurate and the game play is better (but not 100% correct). |
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In examining faro in "Tombstone," we first find Johnny Tyler (portrayed by Billy Bob Thornton) dealing faro in the Oriental Saloon. For some reason, Johnny is upset because the player seated across from him is "backing the Queen" and after warning him not to play the Queen, he threatens to shoot the player if he does it again. This really makes no sense as the Queen would be just as likely to come up a loser as a winner. If the Queen were a dead card (played out), he could simply collect the mislaid bets placed on the Queen. In either case, unless somehow Johnny apparently knew the Queen was going to come up a winner, the exchange makes no sense in a traditional and honest faro game. What is worse, when we see the "faro" layout in that scene.. it is set up incorrectly (see the photo and samples below). |
 "You're sittin' in my seat.." "Is that a fact?" |
 "Mirror" layout at the vacant faro table |
When you see Wyatt toss Johnny's pistol to the barkeep and run Johnny out of the saloon by his ear, you may also notice the other faro dealer (seated behind Wyatt in the picture above) has a layout that is a mirror image of the layout Johnny was using (see picture left). |
| Later in that same scene, we see Wyatt and
his brothers, Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan
Earp (Bill Paxton), meet up with Doc Holliday
(Val Kilmer) on the street. In that exchange,
Doc, who in reality was an avid faro dealer
and prolific faro player remarks, "Since
when is faro a business?" and "Only
suckers buck the tiger, the odds are all
on the house." This totally misrepresents
and contradicts all known information regarding
Doc Holliday's practices and personal opinion
of the game as well as the truth about the
game of faro. Like the backward card layout, these inaccurate statements show a significant lack of historical research or understanding of the game of faro and those that played it in the old west. Faro was a business.. it happened to be Doc Holliday's primary business and source of income for most of his adult life. |
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Unfortunately, the many viewers that don't
have a true understanding of the game of
faro, come away from the movie believing
they saw a truthful representation. I can't
tell you how many times I have had these
derogatory movie lines quoted to me, verbatim,
by misinformed spectators, while I was demonstrating
faro for western shooters and reenactors.
And while their interjections clearly show
their ignorance, I lay the blame for this
perpetuated misunderstanding on the movie.
The Real Deal A traditional (correct) faro layout |
What were they thinking? Incorrect layout used in "Tombstone" |
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In Chapter 8 we see Wyatt Earp dealing faro in the saloon. Again, the incorrect layout (shown in the diagram above and the black and white photo from the film, below) is being employed. And, once again, the only explanation for this error is bad research.
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After Wyatt politely signs an autograph for a "fan", we see Curly Bill Brocious (portrayed by Powers Boothe) step up to the faro table and place a stack of what appear to be 8 or 10 gray chips (or possibly Morgan Dollars, although they do not "clink" at all) directly on top of the Jack (see image #1 below). For some reason, Wyatt nonchalantly moves Bill's bet over to the Queen (see images 2 and 3 below). Then, before Wyatt draws the first card (which would be the "losing card"), Morgan (standing behind Wyatt, on his right) is already counting out Bill's winnings. Wyatt draws one card (this would be the losing card in a real faro game) and proclaims, "Winner to the King, five hundred dollars!" Morgan hands over a stack of five greenbacks (presumably $100 bills) to Curly Bill.
 Curly Bill places his bet on Jack - Wyatt Earp picks up Curly Bill's chips - and moves them to the Queen... |
When the scene cuts away, the stack of chips is now a bit smaller (maybe 6 or 8 chips) and it is resting back upon the Jack, where Curly Bill had placed it originally. You can see this clearly when the camera pans down to show Wyatt casually spinning a Morgan Dollar on the tabletop with his right hand, then he slowly reaches down with his right hand to grasp the shotgun, which is mounted under the table. When the scene cuts back (and Wyatt's right hand and arm are resting back on top of the table, whoops!), you can see the bet is still on the Jack. Then the portion of the scene starts where Johnny Ringo flips his polished stainless steel Ruger Vaquero revolver around in front of Doc.
Assuming Curly Bill had placed ten (10) Morgan Dollars on the Jack.. if the Jack had won (which it didn't), the payout would have been 1:1 and Curly Bill would have walked away with a grand total of $20. The only explanation would be that Bill had placed ten (10) $25 chips on the layout and Wyatt inexplicably moved the chips to the Queen, drew the King on the losing draw (the first and only card drawn in the scene) declared Curly Bill a winner, matched his bet (of $250) and cashed him out without recovering the stack of chips on the layout.
Regardless of how much Bill's bet was, as anyone can plainly see, there was no bet placed on the King at any time during the scene and the first card drawn would have been the losing card anyhow. Since Morgan was already counting out the "winnings" before the card was even drawn, the clear message is that the Earps had set up the whole thing in advance, planning to make the "pay off" to Curly Bill when the opportunity arose. In any case, the faro play in this scene was completely wrong and whoever advised on the game was either clueless as to the game of faro or their advice was completely disregarded by the director. Besides the bad layout and incorrect game play, the continuity in the scene is very poor.
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People have asked me, "Why do you go to such trouble to criticize Tombstone? Who cares?" And... you may be thinking that right now too. My answer is simple; they went to a hell of a lot more trouble to get it wrong!
| As to the question, "who cares?" ...I love "Tombstone" and feel it is truly a classic American Western and I appreciate that they took the time to attempt to incorporate the game of faro into the movie for the sake of historical accuracy. When I first saw the film, like most viewers, I had absolutely no clue about the game of faro, its history or how it was played in the old west. Like many others, I believed poker was the be-all, end-all of frontier gambling. Now that I know better, it is disappointing to realize the complete lack of accuracy, poor research and defamatory comments regarding faro which clearly betray the historical truth of the game and the real people being portrayed in the story. |  |
I know a lot of artistic license goes into films based upon legendary figures and events. Often things get left out (like Wyatt's two other brothers James and Warren which also lived in Tombstone at the time and were never even mentioned or shown in the film) or changed (like the number of shots fired, the duration of the gunfight and where the involved parties received their various injuries), but totally misrepresenting the game of faro and Doc's poor opinion of the game does absolutely nothing to further the plot or storyline. Again... they went to a lot of trouble and expense to try to "get it right" and it seems they somehow got it very wrong..
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Historical Inaccuracies in Tombstone (movie)
by Fern Canyon Press
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