Interior view of a gambling hall showing a faro game, ca.1900

Photograph of the interior view of a gambling hall showing a faro game, ca.1900. 13 men are gathered at the table -- out of which only a handful appear to be playing. Chips are piled on top of different cards in the centerpiece of the table. Everyone is watching the game attentively except for a few men (standing at left).; "Faro is an old game, with roots going back to the 15th Century and a game called 'Basset'. It attained its modern form at the court of Louis XIV. Despite this distinguished pedigree, its appeal in 19th Century America ran to all classes of society, from the banker to the '49er and was commonly called, among the 'baser sort', 'Bucking the Tiger'. Faro is not much played today, as it is a banking game and gambling houses tend to favor games where the odds are more clearly in favor of the house. In an honest Faro game, the punter's chances are just a little short of even of coming out ahead. Most dealers skewed those odds in their favor with some quite remarkable card shuffling and other ingenious ways of cheating." -- Walter Nelson.