Texas Holdem Press

Though poker is often the game depicted in movie westerns, the card game you would most likely find in the saloons of the old west, was Faro.

Faro was popular for a number of reasons – especially because it was a ‘house game’: that is, it was a card game that could be controlled by the saloon owner, allow for a number of players at one time, and had odds that ensured the saloon owners would turn a profit. Actually if played straight the odds are about even, but since saloons often were being paid by professional Faro ‘bankers’ to allow them to conduct their games in the saloon, the saloon owners could guarantee their own profit.

Poker historians often speculate however that Faro’s demise came about because the profit was too low for the independent ‘bankers’ who often traveled from town to town with their own Faro rig, risking their own money.

The game itself is relatively simple, though subtleties are often revealed once play is underway.

In Faro an entire set of cards – or a cloth imprinted with these cards, was laid out, face up, in from low Ace to high King on a table. Players could place bets of any amount, on any of those cards or – bet that the player’s card would be higher than the house’s (dealers) by putting their bet in the ‘higher’ box.

Once bets had been placed on one of those 13 cards the banker, using a standard 52-card deck, would traditionally ‘burn’ the first card and then lay the next card down to his right. That was the dealer’s card, also known as the house’s card, or the banker’s card. According to most game historians, the house would only win those chips that had been placed on that card – and the rest could be taken back. But the game progressed until each of the 52 cards had been played, so the odds changed as the game went along and experienced players (or those that thought they knew what they were doing)either let their bets stand, or would move their bets around to cover cards that hadn’t shown to that point

In any variation after the bankers card was dealt, another card was then issued – the players card, and if you had bet on that card, the house doubled your money.

You could also ‘split’ your bet: that is, place your bet between two cards. And you could ‘copper’ your bet by placing a copper slug over the bet, thereby reversing the bet (betting it would lose), or if it were placed in the ‘higher’ box, betting it would be lower than the dealer’s card

If the game were played straight – and the dealer could only win money bet on the house card, it doesn’t seem likely that the house could win much money at this game. The only time the house had a chance to do a little bit better, was when the player and house cards were the same – in which case the bet was split. Consequently, according to historical accounts, the ‘bank’ did not play fair: often relying on trick decks or crafty dealers to tilt the table in the direction of the saloon owner.

But there were other variations of play, and as the dealer got down to the bottom of the deck players often took larger risks. When only three cards remained, the dealer offered a specialized bet called “calling the turn”. If you correctly identified the exact order of the last three cards you won four times your bet.

If you want to try a few hands of Faro without risking any cash, check out Scott Gleeson’s Faro website (http://www.gleeson.us/faro/game)