Faro-Mini Baccarat
Faro is a card game, a inheritor of Basset. It enjoyed great popularity during the 18th century, particularly in England and France, and in the 19th Century in the United States, particularly in the Old West, where it was practiced by faro dealers such as Doc Holliday and Wyatt Earp. Although both faro and Basset were forbidden in France, on severe penalties, these games continued to be played in England during the 18th century, apparently because it was easy to learn, quick, and when played honestly, the odds for a player were the best of all other gambling games. A game of faro was often called a "faro bank". It was played with an entire pack of playing cards and admitted an indeterminate number of players, termed "punters", and a "banker". Chips (called "checks") were purchased by the punter from the banker or house from which the game originated. Bet values and limits were set by the house. Usual check values were 50 cents to $10 each.
The faro table was square, with a distinguished cut-out for the banker. A board with a standardized betting layout consisting of one card of each denomination pasted to it, called the "layout", was placed on top of the table. Each player laid his stake on one of the 13 cards on the layout. Players could place multiple bets and could bet on multiple cards simultaneously by placing their bet between cards or on specific card edges. Players also had the choice of betting on the "high card" located at the top of the layout. A deck of cards was placed face-up inside a "dealing box", a mechanical shoe used to prevent manipulations of the draw by the banker, and was supposed to assure players of a fair game. Many sporting-house supply companies sold gaffed dealing boxes that were designed so that the banker could cheat.
The first card in the dealing box is called the "soda" and is "burned" off, leaving 51 cards in play. As the soda is pulled out of the dealing box, it exposes the first card in play, called the "banker's card", which is placed on the right side of the dealing box in the other, called the carte anglaise, or English card, and simply called the "player's card" in the United States, for the players placed on the left.
The banker draws two cards. The first is the "losing card", and all bets placed on that card are lost by the players and won by the bank. The second card is the "winning card", and all bets placed on that card are returned to the players with a 100% winning paid by the bank. The banker collects on all the money staked on the card laid on the right and pays double the sums staked on those on the card remaining on the left (in the dealing box).
A player could "copper" their bet by placing a hexagonal (6-sided) token called a "copper". Some histories claim a penny was sometimes used in place of a copper. This reversed the meaning of the win/loss piles for that particular bet. An abacus-like device, called a "case keep", is employed to assist the players and prevent dealer cheating by counting cards. The operator of the case keep is called the "case keeper".
Certain advantages were reserved to the banker: if he drew a double, that is, two equal cards, he won half of the stakes upon the card which equaled the doublet. In a fair game, this provided the only house edge. If the banker drew the last card of the pack, he was exempt from doubling the stakes deposited on that card. In most cases, when three cards remained, the dealer would offer a specialized bet called "betting the turn". This bet offers a 4-to-1 (5-for-1) payout if the casino game players can identify the exact order of the last three cards.