Faro Gambling Old West

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  1. Faro 'bucking The Tiger' Board Game, Cards, Dealer Box, Counter Old West Antique Faro Pharo Gambling Playing Card Game Table Saloon 1800's Bullet Antique Faro Pharo Case Keeper Mason & Co. Makers Chicago Gambling Saloo.
  2. A faro case keeper and derringer on display at the Arizona Historical Society Museum in Tucson. People think of poker when they think of the Old West but Faro was just as popular. Other games included Spanish monte, twenty-one, roulette and chuck-a-luck. The later was the cheapest game of all and only required a five cent bet to get started.
  3. 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.
  4. Gambling was not a leisure activity in the West; it was considered as a legitimate way to make a living. In the States, these age-old gamblers are responsible for playing and popularizing interesting games that would later develop into the regular games we see in any casino nowadays. Brag, for example, was an ancestor of Poker.

Interesting demonstration of a classic old-west game.

Old

The game of faro is a descendent of the game basset. Basset was a gambling card game played by high society members because of the large sums of money to be won or lost. It was considered apolite game but was outlawed in 1691.

The reign of Louis XIV is when Faro was first mentioned under the name of pharaon. It first emerged in Southwestern Franceseveral years after basset was outlawed but eventually the French outlawed faro as well.

Even though the French banned these games, you could still find both basset and faro being played in England all through the 18th century. The English changed the French name ofpharoah to pharo.

By the 19th century it had spread to the United States and had its name changed to how we know it today, faro. Faro soon became the most popular gambling game especially in the OldWest and it could be found in every gambling hall from the years of 1825-1915.

Faro Gambling Old West Palm Beach

Faro was so popular in 1882 that all other forms of gambling combined didn’t surpass it.

Faro Gambling Old Western

Palm

Faro Gambling Old West Coast

Due to early card designs of a Bengal tiger, Faro was also being called “twisting the tiger’s tail” or “bucking the tiger”. You could often find gambling houses that hung a tiger in theirwindow to show that Faro was being played there. Popular Faro towns or establishments would be referred to as a “tiger town” or a “tiger alley”.

Faro Gambling Old Westbury

Faro became considerably less popular after World War II but you could still find a game in Reno or Las Vegas casinos until 1985.