The Argot of the Faro Bank

Abstract

T HERE IS no such thing as an honest professional gambler; he must be able to improve perceptibly upon the law of averages if he wishes to live. And most professionals live very well. They constitute a large block within the grift2 and are accepted by the fraternity along with thieves, pickpockets, confidence men, etc. The status of the big-timers is rather high; some are straight gamblers, some are part-time confidence men, and some are full-time confidence men who gamble a little on the side.3 Beneath the big-timers are hordes of small fry who grind away at their little games and hope to rise in the world some day. All of them, big and little, are cannibalistic in that they prey upon all other underworld types; a big-time criminal flush with his end of a touch is their special dish. But the wealthy legitimate gambler or would-be gambler is the prime and never-failing source of revenue. The gambler, like the confidence man, looks for the solid citizen with enough larceny in him to make him a good mark. Professional gamblers work together in mobs, with partners, or alone, usually under the protection of expert fixers who iron out any legal difficulties. Their argot is closely tied into that of the grift in general, although each type of gambler has something of a specialized argot and