The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1884-11-06
HISTORY OF FARO.
a new YoRK SPORTS STORY
N. Nnclsui o'lFin Chsep- PLAYED n "a
the Foundations of the rSfH.
mid. ~ iii.e aud ITu-
Hrtss iiuies Din'r

SWISS
"Iluvo you any idea 10y whom or when
the gnmp or faro WAS iUyontris" asked
q reporter ui the Commercial AdyCri o.
'uw DAYS ago while talking with Char
no bum, tho woll-knOwI gambler,
Thopuo, on was a,Soi in the course 0l
a conversation A.. I gaming Ia gem
tral, and parlicula about the pruyn-
lcu,e ot ID la this c'.r, Dunn had pre-
NiuUsly said that there was more gainl'-
ling going an nj present within ,hr T. q
cinrls Of this devoted city Than nj any
other time in its history,
"Well, that u question: replied
Dunn, crossing his logs with q grunt ~
supreme comfort and lighting anOihe d
rlGar "luro, my boy, dates back Ia the
inventors 81 almost all the games that
re1ulra thought, II was inVun,od, |
rave heard, by the PhuTauhs ai,cr they
had got tired al PLAYING chess aud back
CANNON aud ali the other innocent lit
tie games which brought Them 81
mucn enjoyment, But the new inVen-
lion was the ruluatinn al the PhaIaohs,
for they gamhlCl - much thai hnallS
the Shcpaord Kings went for them and
pulVeriIrd chem, rs we 'av nowadays,
- faro was temporarily To- gOUcn, Tho
ptolmcys revived IL aud IL then crossed
over into liHiy, where mo,airs IN the
RUNS of "ompcii have been iOupd rep
Icson,ug ,wO players deeply absorbed
in the primitive game. No, I'm not
Joking, | never joke about any such
serious, matter as iar'' En,' honestly,
80 one huOwS When the game rclllN WAS
invented, II is one oi iho.c thlngs
which partoOli of the nature OF TopiY
aud 'simplV crowd
.,Ths cav lest record we have of the
"umc Is IN the thirteen II century, when
II had rs snmcd console able popularity
In Italy aud France. am inclined
nclicye hat IL is Of Italian origin.
From The Italian We get the word pat
|, - which is ". ed In he game now, and
mcaus,p 10. the sake lilo and double.
''he i,al'nu original Is pa"oli. To make
parrot n IL was originally called,
plnvc, wiS rcoui ed 10 bend one corner
OF thc pee erred cara over. Ii was nj
WAYS his right 10 Withdraw n bet after
he time when he had won his u =.
sake. hut pre- TiOuSly 20 that he had q
let hS money remain. ~ that lime
there Nee no 'lay-Ou,S.' Every plnNe"
had his own pack and made his bets on
the cards hat he himScl" .a.ncd. When
he won he simply showed hl1 card 10
Tue dealer and he was pad. A century
AGO no boS was used. The deHler de-
on. of Ms bands AID % ran grea,
chance of snowidg mo OF The cards.
Tue n j. great protection against the
Qris'. We. and it Is really The only pro-
tcc,ion the PLAYER has aga'g,t any po
siblc manipulation on the p..rt of the
de ,le". l. faro was dealt out OF The hand
rs il VS. in former times there would
be decided number of sbooiings in
/ Ills police ridden city.
al Is had 10 say when faro was intro
duced into this country. The proball-
ties are that il was played in England
long before any one ever dreamed oil
colonining the new world. We know
that il was played in Virginia long be-
fore the revolution. The old planta
were not chary about betting the I
slaves on the turn Of a card, and had
none o. the Puritan narrow .mindedness |
which Kept faro out of Now England. |
70 game was played al that time with |
out box. The players chose their !
cards from their own decks and had |
ample opportunity TO manipulate 1t as
they pleased. They got no benefit from
n split-that is, when two cards of like
were turned up and the
stakes are equally divided between the
PLAYER and the bank. They didn't even
have the advantage of cue box to
check off the cards which had been
dealt. OF course there was rash betting
in consequence, and manipulation was
on the part of the bank and OF
he player, and you may he sure both
took advantage of their changes to the
best of their ability"
"IIave there been any recent changes
m the gamer"
"I should think so. And they all have
mad tendency 70 make the game much
airer than il was originally. Thirty
years ago, remember that it was the
'ule that if man put bet down on the
able he was compelled to leave 1t there
until it had lost or won its equivalent.
Now he is able to change his bets as
many times as he choOses. At that time
when a man sat down at faro-table he
sat down ONLY TO bet to win. Now he
IAN bet either to win or to lose. AT
hat time there wasn't any sIch thing
- copper: now man can copper the
zee and bet that it will lose and still win
IN q losing card. Then there is consid-
,rable difference in the way faro is
played in the West. If man puts hi
hips at the corner of the King heading
o the deuce in this city, the bet takes
n the king and the deuce only, but out
Vest such placing OF chips would
. can the king. queen, ace and deuce.
Checks have only been used during the
asst fifty years. Previous to the ivory
lisks which represent so much money,
DIN was used, and oitentimcs the faro
able would be strewn with gold and
ily err as the game went on. The first
ime faro was played publically in New
iork was in 1897. IT increased to an
farming extent until 1884 before the
.reat fire, when that calamity left the
ity almost without money. The di&
ress of the following two or three years
lmost killed the game, but as business S
evived and money again became plenty,
arc arose from the ashes as it were, aud i
esumed its sway. In about 1910 the
legislature passed bill declaring faro
0 be illegal gambling, and thenceforth
yhenever a man wanted to "buck the
ger," he had to do it on the sly. Vir-
mia took action forbidding the game
. the las. century. In 1850 she passed ,
law requiring "the subjects of the 8
ling to refrain from playing the game
f faro" The penalties for breaking .
MS old law were very severe, includ- !
,g heavy fines and long term of i'm ;
rlsonment.- New York Commercial !
d v User. e