Faro (banking game)
Faro (/ˈfɛəroʊ/ FAIR-oh), Pharaoh, Pharao, or Farobank is a late 17th-century French gambling game using cards. It is descended from Basset, and belongs to the Lansquenet and Monte Bank family of games due to the use of a banker and several players. Winning or losing occurs when cards turned up by the banker match those already exposed.
Men playing faro in an Arizona saloon in 1895 | |
| Origin | France |
|---|---|
| Type | Gambling |
| Skills | Counting |
| Cards | 52 |
| Deck | Anglo-American |
| Play | Clockwise |
| Playing time | 10–15 minutes |
| Chance | Medium |
| Related games | |
| Baccarat, Basset, Tempeln, Monte Bank, Lansquenet | |
It is not a direct relative of poker, but Faro was often just as popular due to its fast action, easy-to-learn rules, and better odds than most games of chance. The game of Faro is played with only one deck of cards and admits any number of players.
Popular in North America during the 1800s, Faro was eventually overtaken by poker as the preferred card game of gamblers in the early 1900s.
Variants include German Faro, Jewish Faro, and Ladies' Faro.