Guess what? They don't play faro much any more in Vegas. A simple game to learn, faro was once the most popular. You didn't have to count cards to do this,either, the dealer had a device called a casekeeper, which looked something like an abacus -the house counted for you. Play this free online faro card game, and step into the historic Old West (requires Flash plug-in). You'll either win or lose, but the house doesn't get it's rake off, so it's like playing on roulette wheel with no zero. If there's only one, say, ace, left in the deck, that's called the 'case ace' and you can bet on it with an absolutely even chance.
The house percentage, minimal as it is, comes from the fact that if the same card turns up in both winner and loser slots, the house rakes it in.Ī 'case card' is one of a value of which there's only one left. Games using playing cards exploit the fact that cards are individually identifiable from one side only, so that each player knows only the cards he holds and not those held by anyone else. This leads to an interesting historical aside: was there a strategy in print that can be employed to (ostensibly) help optimize your play? Most Faro games were crooked, because played honestly, it's the closest thing to an even money game you would find in a Casino.Įvery betting round, the dealer will turn up two cards, a winner and a loser. card game, game played for pleasure or gambling (or both) with one or more decks of playing cards.