I mis-spelled Pharoah - as is my wont. Many thanks to all who responded to my query. Now if I can just find a few brave souls willing to gamble ... there's at least one precocious child of my acquaintance (but his parents are already concerned that I'm corrupting him).

Carolyn

From: Jerry Friedman <jerryfriedman1@GMAIL.COM>
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Wed, April 3, 2013 10:59:40 AM
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] how to play Pharoh?

I should correct this.  I forgot that if the two cards dealt have the same rank, the bank takes half of the money that the punters bet on that rank.  This is a more important house advantage than the odds on "calling the turn" of the last three cards.
 
A Nabokov connection is that faro is related to lansquenet, which is mentioned in Pale Fire.
 
Jerry Friedman

On Tue, Apr 2, 2013 at 9:18 AM, Jerry Friedman <jerryfriedman1@gmail.com> wrote:
This book discusses the game of faro in The Queen of Spades, including the reference to mirandole:


The game seems to be the same as that described in the "Hoyle" I have: a punter bets on a rank, and then the cards are dealt alternately into "win" and "lose" piles.  If the first card of that rank falls on the "win" pile, the punter wins; if not, he loses.

The calculation of the house advantage is very simple (there isn't one except for the last three cards), and a precocious child might be interested in it.
Google Search the archive Contact the Editors Visit "Nabokov Online Journal" Visit Zembla View Nabokv-L Policies Manage subscription options Visit AdaOnline View NSJ Ada Annotations Temporary L-Soft Search the archive

All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.

Google Search the archive Contact the Editors Visit "Nabokov Online Journal" Visit Zembla View Nabokv-L Policies Manage subscription options Visit AdaOnline View NSJ Ada Annotations Temporary L-Soft Search the archive

All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.