These days, though, it can be compared to the tumbleweeds found floating through the western ghost towns as it is relatively unknown and quite difficult to find. You can try playing Faro on line at the free Wichita Faro site.Back in the days of the Wild West when saloons were in full swing and people were battled on the streets with six-guns, the Faro card game (pronounced like the Egyptian word 'Pharaoh') was incredibly popular. Roland Scheicher has written an article on Pharo for German Wikipedia - also articles on the related game Stoß. There is another description of Faro on this archive copy of the Bicycle Playing-Cards (US Playing-Card Company) web site. Wikipedia has a description of Basset.ĭetailed rules can be found on this archive copy of The Games Forum's Faro page. The dealer exposes cards in pairs, a winner and a loser, and pays out or collects accordingly.įaro was a derivation of Bassetta, which was introduced in Paris in 1672 by the Venetian ambassador and which can be traced back to the 15th century in Italy. Players bet on the card rank of their choice. The betting layout consists of a suit of cards, from Ace up to King. The last faro 'bank' was closed in 1975 in Ely, Nevada, although there was a short revival at Reno in 1980-85.

It became a casino game when Nevada legalised gambling in 1931, but went out of fashion in the 1950s. After 1820, Pharaoh (Pharo, Faro) disappeared from Western Europe but became extremely popular in America during the Gold Rush, but is rarely played nowadays. This casino gambling game originated in France in the late 17th century, where it was known as Pharaon (first recorded 1688), and became extremely fashionable in Europe in the 18th century.

Faro card game illegal