s.

LXV. GAMBLING.

I. FARO BANKS.

In spite of the fact that games of chance for money are prohibited by the
laws of the State of New York, there is no city in the Union in which
they are carried on to a greater extent than in the Metropolis. There
are about 200 gambling houses proper in the city, and from 350 to 400
lottery offices, policy shops, and places where gambling is carried on
with more or less regularity. About 2500 persons are known to the police
as professional gamblers. Some of the establishments are conducted with
great secrecy. Others are carried on with perfect openness, and are as
well known as any place of legitimate business in the city. The police,
for reasons best known to themselves, decline to execute the laws against
them, and they continue their career from year to year without
molestation. There are about twenty of these houses in Broadway,
occupying locations which make them conspicuous to every passer-by. In
the cross streets, within a block of Broadway, there are from twenty-five
to thirty more, and the Bowery and East side streets are full of them.

Ninety-five of the gambling houses of the city are classed as "Faro
Banks." Faro is the principal game, but there are appliances for others.
Faro is emphatically an American game, and is preferred by amateurs
because of its supposed fairness. An experienced gambler, however, does
not need to be told that the game offers as many chances for cheating as
any others that are played. It has attained its highest development in
New York.

The gambling houses of New York are usually divided into three classes:
First and Second Class, and Day Houses. The First-Class Houses are few
in number. There are probably not more than half a dozen in all, if as
many. In these houses the playing is fair--that is, cheating is never
resorted to. The Bank relies upon the chances in its favor, the
"splits," and the superior skill and experience of the dealer. The
first-class houses are located in fashionable side streets leading from
Broadway, and are easy of access. Outwardly they differ in nothing from
the elegant mansions on either side of them, except that the blinds are
closed all day long, and the house has a silent, deserted air. In its
internal arrangements the house is magnificent. The furniture, carpets,
and all its appointments are superb. Choice paintings and works of art
are scattered through the rooms in truly regal pr