from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Faro \Far"o\, n. [Said to be so called because the Egyptian king
Pharaoh was formerly represented upon one of the cards.]
A gambling game at cards, in which all the other players play
against the dealer or banker, staking their money upon the
order in which the cards will lie and be dealt from the pack.
[1913 Webster]
{Faro bank}, the capital which the proprietor of a faro table
ventures in the game; also, the place where a game of faro
is played. --Hoyle.
[1913 Webster]
from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
FARO, crim. law. There is a species of game called faro-table, or faro-bank,
which is forbidden by law in many states; and the persons who keep it for
the purpose of playing for money or other valuable thing, may generally be
indicted at common law for a nuisance. 1 Roger's Rec. 66. It is played with
cards in this manner: a pack of cards is displayed on the table so that the
face of each card may be seen by the spectators. The man who keeps the bank,
as it is termed, and who is called the banker, sits by the table with
another pack of cards, and a bag containing money, some of which is
displayed, or sometimes instead of money, chips, or small pieces of ivory or
other substance are used. The parties who play with the banker, are called
punters or pointeurs. Suppose the banker and A, a punter, wish to play for
five dollars, the banker shuffles the pack which he holds in his hand, while
A lays his money intended to be bet, say five dollars, on any card he may
choose as aforesaid. The banker then runs the cards alternately into two
piles, one on the right the other on the left, until he reaches, in the
pack, the card corresponding to that on which A has laid his money. If, in
this alternative, the card chosen comes on the right hand, the banker takes
up the money. If on the other, A is entitled to five dollars from the
banker. Several persons are usually engaged at the same table with the
banker. 1 Rog. Rec. 66, note; Encycl. Amer. h.t.