Stuss or Jewish faro is a card game, a variant of
faro. In this version (played in house games, back rooms, and saloons), the cards are dealt from the dealer's hand, not from a
shoe
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. Though the human foot can adapt to varied terrains and climate conditions, it is vulnerable, and shoes provide protection. Form was originally tied to function, but ...
. Also, the house wins all the money when drawing two equal cards, as opposed to half in traditional faro. This greatly increases the house's advantage over its patrons.
Stuss was particularly popular in the late nineteenth century in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
and Chicago in the United States, continuing until the time of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
. It was frequently played in ethnic immigrant neighborhoods.
References
''The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Card Games'' Sterling Publishing, New York 1995 p. 335-337
Scarne: ''Scarne on Card Games.''''How to Play and Win at Poker, Pinochle, Blackjack, Gin and Other Popular Card Games'', 2nd ed., Courier Dover Publications, Mineola, N.Y. 2004, pp 173 –175,
* Luc Sante: ''Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York''. Farrar, Straus, & Giroux, New York 2003 ,
Alex Garel-Frantzen: ''Gangsters & Organized Crime in Jewish Chicago'' The History Press, Charleston, S.C. 2013, p. 86 f, 2013
G. R. Williamson: ''Frontier Gambling''.''The Games, the Gamblers & the Great Gambling Halls of the Old West''. Indian Head Publications, E-Pub edition, 2012,
19th-century gambling games
Banking games
American gambling games
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