CHEATING. If Faro were honestly played, it would be one of the prettiest banking games in the world; but unfortunately the money to be made at this game is so great that the richest prizes in the gambling world are offered to the men who can so handle the cards as to “protect the money of the house.” All systems are not only worthless, but dangerous to use, when opposed to the skill of the modern faro dealer. A first-class “mechanic” can get from one to two hundred dollars a week, and a percentage of the profits; but it is hardly necessary to say that he is not paid that amount simply for pulling cards out of a box. Before venturing to “buck the tiger” get some one to show you how fifty-three cards are shuffled up, so as to make the last turn come the way that there is most money in it for the house. Watch the movements carefully, so that you will know them the next time you see them in a fashionable house, which you imagine to be “dead square.” If you see a dealer with a shuffling board as thick as his dealing box, don’t play against that game. If you see a dealer take up the cards already taken from the box, slipping them one under the other, as if to straighten them up, the sooner you cash your chips the better, for you are up against a brace game, no matter where it is dealt.
The proprietors of some fashionable “clubs,” especially at watering places, pretend to be above all such things as cheating at faro, and get indignant at the suggestion of the possibility of there being anything crooked in their establishments. The author has but one reply to all such. If it is true that there is nothing unfair in your game, let me put a type-writer girl in the dealer’s place to shuffle and pull out the cards, and let your men just see to paying and taking bets.
The boast of all these fashionable gambling houses is that they never won a man’s money except in a square game. Strange to say, this is generally true, and the explanation is very simple. If you are losing there is no necessity to cheat you, so you lose your money in a square game. If you are winning, it is the bank’s money, and not yours, that they would win if they started to cheat you; and as the dealer is paid to “protect the money of the house,” as they call it, he is perfectly justified in throwing the harpoon into you for a few deals, just to get his own money back; but he is very careful not to cheat you out of any of your own money. You may lose if you like, but you cannot win; faro banks are not run that way.
ROUGE ET NOIR, OR TRENTE-ET-QUARANTE.
The banker and his assistant, called the croupier, sit opposite each other at the sides of a long table, on each end of which are two large diamonds, one red and the other black, separated by a square space and a triangle. Any number of persons can play against the bank, placing their bets on the colour they select, red or black.
Six packs of fifty-two cards each are shuffled together and used as one, the dealer taking a convenient number in his hand for each deal. The players having made their bets, and cut the cards, the dealer turns one card face upward on the table in front of him, at the same time announcing the colour he deals for, which is always for black first. The dealer continues to turn up cards one by one, announcing their total pip value each time, until he reaches or passes 31. Court cards and Tens count 10 each, the ace and all others for their face value. Having reached or passed 31 for black, the red is dealt for in the same manner, and whichever colour most closely approaches 31, wins. Suppose 35 was dealt for black, and 38 for red; black would win. The number dealt must never exceed 40.
The colour of the first card dealt in each coup is noted, and if the same colour wins the coup, the banker pays all bets placed on the space marked Couleur. If the opposite colour wins, he pays all bets in the triangle marked Inverse. All bets are paid in even money, there being no odds at this game.
Although black is the first colour dealt for, both it and inverse are ignored in the announcement of the result, red and colour being the only ones mentioned, win or lose.
If the same number is reached for both colours, it is called a refait, and is announced by the word, “Après,” which means that all bets are a stand-off for that coup. If the refait happens to be exactly 31, however, the bank wins half the money on the table, no matter how it is placed. The players may either pay this half at once, or may move their entire stake into the first prison, a little square marked out on the table, and belonging to the colour they bet upon. If they win the next coup, their stake is free; if not, they lose it all. Should a second refait of 31 occur, they would have to lose a fourth of this imprisoned stake, and the remainder would be moved into a second prison, to await the result of the next coup, which would either free it or lose it all.
Probabilities. It has been found that of the ten numbers that can be dealt, 31 to 40, the number 31 will come oftener than any other. The proportions are as follow:—