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BANK. Without a party to play against, there can be no faro-playing. The player must play against some body, and that some body is a party of one or more, who hire rooms, and own gambling instruments. The gambling concern is owned by them, and the servants, from the negro at the door who answers to the touch of the bell, to the gentlemanly "picker-up," are in their pay, and act entirely in accordance with their instructions. The capital which the owners invest in this gambling co-partnership is called the "bank," but the amount varies greatly. Some banking concerns are not worth over $100, while others are worth $100,000. It is sometimes easy to break a bank of limited capital, but to make bankrupt the other is almost an impossibility. The necessity of a large capital is apparent. If four or six parties seated at the table should have $50 each on the table, and four of the six should win and the other two lose, then the bank in five minutes would be $1000 the loser. The bank must be always prepared to lose a thousand or two of an evening, they knowing well enough that it will all come back to them before the game closes.
BANKER. The man who puts the money up to be played for. The owner of the bank.
BETTER. A party who enters a gambling-saloon, takes his seat at the table, and commences to play, is a better.
BETTING ON TIME. This frequently occurs when the character of a party is such that he can be trusted to pay the money he borrows or the debts he incurs. If his character is good in this respect, then he will be permitted to play after he is "broke," if it occurs that he should be the loser when he rises from the table. This is betting on time. The same thing is done in Wall street every day by speculating brokers. In Wall street gambling there are the "bulls" and the "bears," the object of the one being to raise stock above its actual value and then dispose of it, while the other party depresses it below its value and then purchases it. Nothing of this sort, however, occurs among the professional gamblers, who locate in Broadway and some of the down-town streets running from it.