Other famous names from history to have enjoyed the game are Casanova, who mentioned it often in his writing, and Wyatt Earp and ‘Doc’ Holliday, who both worked as Faro dealers when they first arrived in Tombstone. It was a particular favourite of the legendary high stakes gambler Nick ‘the Greek’ Dandolos, and he quite famously lost an awful lot of someone else’s money playing it in the 1930s. That said, it was popular in casinos for a time, with the odd casino in Reno even offering the game up until the 80s, but it would be a miracle to find it these days. It had its heyday in the Wild West, where it was frequently played in saloons and no doubt caused a fair few fist fights too, but by the 1950s it had been more or less retired. So you can see how the name ended up being Faro to those farther West. The accepted backstory of the game is that it came from France, around the 17 th century, where it was known as Pharaon since this is the French word for Pharaoh, and cards often had a picture of a Pharaoh printed on the back. Despite being one of the most popular games of its time, Faro is now almost entirely forgotten, especially by the typical casino player.
