Let's be fair-o to faro
12 January 2004
By Mark Pilarski
Dear Mark,
I recently read that the most popular Nevada
casino game in the 1800s was faro. The Virginia
City casinos were kind enough to offer the game
24 hours a day "for the convenience of miners
from all shifts." Have you ever heard of faro
being played in modern times? Any idea as to why
it disappeared? Andy K.
Like you, Andy, I sure would love to see the
game reappear in towns like Virginia City,
Deadwood, or on a Mississippi riverboat. So
popular was the game once, that faro could be
found in just about every saloon in every
Western one-horse town.
Faro, sometimes spelled pharo, pharaoh or
pharaon, was a card game invented by the French,
who adapted it from the Venetian game of basetta.
French gamblers called the game Pharaoh because
one of the honored cards bore the likeness of an
Egyptian Pharaoh. Thanks to an exiled Scotsman
named John Law, the game immigrated into this
country at New Orleans, moved up the river on
the Mississippi steamboats, and then spread
across the Wild West.
Faro's demise came from a combination of many
factors; two stand out. The opportunity for
dealer cheating at faro was greater than with
any other card game, and, more importantly for
the guys who ran the joints, faro had a low
house edge.
Dear Mark,
Does someone from Canada have to pay taxes on
lottery winnings in this country? Terrence L.
All Lottery prizes are subject to federal, state
and local income taxes. For US citizens, state
lotteries are required by law to withhold
estimated taxes at the rate of 25 percent
(federal), and each state has a certain
percentage to withhold for any prize over $5,000
paid to a U.S. resident. Our friends from the
North are subject to an up-front, flat,
30-percent estimated federal rate as well as
that particular state's withholding rate. By the
way, Terrence, don't think you're off the hook
if your win is just under the $5,000 threshold.
Winners of less than $5,000 will receive a W2-G
form in January to be filed with their yearly
federal, state and local income taxes. The
guvmints' edge puts casinos' to shame.
Dear Mark,
Are there any land-based casinos operating in
Nevada where I can bet with them online? Tommy
D.
Not a chance, Tommy. Nevada regulators forbid
Nevada casinos from doing business with any
internet casino sites, or with an online site of
their own where you can gamble. Nevada
regulators also consider web sites that take
bets from Nevada and other U.S. residents to be
breaking federal and state laws.
Dear Mark,
I live in Nevada, but I have a brother living in
Ohio, and a sister who lives in Michigan, who,
when the jackpot is high enough, will play my
favorite numbers in the Mega-Millions lottery.
According to my brother, I have 180 days to
collect on a winning ticket. My sister swears in
Michigan that it is a year. Who is right? Hector
G.
No kinfolk bickering needed for this one,
Hector, 'cause they're both right. In Illinois,
New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, and
Michigan, you have a period of one year from the
drawing date to turn in a winning ticket. They
like to call that the "anniversary" date. In
Virginia, Georgia, Texas, Washington, and Ohio,
the time limit really is 180 days. In Maryland,
the limit is 182 days from the drawing date.
(I'd ask Sis to bop right down to the pay window
in no more than a week.)
Gambling quote of the week: The holiday season
is always a bad time of year for amateur
gambling addicts. They are weak people, as a
rule, and they are not built for grueling
long-distance work. -Hunter S Thompson
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