Faro Gambling Old West
How did saloon owners and faro dealers split the gambling profits?
Faro Faro was the most popular game found in old west gambling establishments. It involved one person being the dealer which they would call a banker and several players that were called punters. It typically took 10 to 15 minutes to play and it was a fast game that gave you better odds than most other games at the time. By all accounts, faro has gone from being the most common game of chance and the most common casino gambling game in the United States during the 19th century to being almost nonexistent and nearly forgotten. It is so much forgotten, in fact, that films about the Old West usually show cowboys or miners playing poker. This gambling game was extremely popular in the American Wild West and the gold rush, today Faro is a lesser known and enjoyed game, having gone out of style in the 1950s. It’s believed to have originated in France sometime in the late 17th century and was called “Pharaon.”.
Faro was the most popular of all gambling games in the Old West. Generally, a faro dealer came to town with his own equipment and set up in a saloon for a fee. Betters waged against the “bank” or the dealer’s money. However, the most popular gambling game in the West was faro, its name supposedly derived from Egyptian pharaohs depicted on the back of French playing cards. The historic California gold rush of 1849 brought many of the Mississippi gamblers to San Francisco where large gambling houses never closed their doors and enormous sums changed hands.
Sherry Monahan
Willow Springs, North Carolina
Faro was the most popular of all gambling games in the Old West. Generally, a faro dealer came to town with his own equipment and set up in a saloon for a fee. Betters waged against the “bank” or the dealer’s money. The dealer might also run a “house bank” in exchange for a percentage of the winnings.
Faro Gambling Old Westbury
Author Bob DeArment says, “Profit sharing between dealers and saloon owners was just something the two worked out between them. Dealers were often part owners of the establishments and vice versa.” Bob’s book, Knights of the Green Cloth, contains good information on gamblers and their games of chance—including faro.
Speaking of great books, we can’t forget those written by our questioner Sherry Monahan, including Taste of Tombstone and Tombstone’s Treasure.
Faro Gambling Old Western
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