Faro Demonstrations
Schedule
Sun Jan 18 2026 at 10:00 am to 01:00 pm
UTC-07:00Location
223 Toughnut St., Tombstone, AZ | Tombstone, AZ
Join an educational and interactive demonstration of the popular Wild West game of Faro at Tombstone Courthouse. Play along with our engaging and knowledgeable volunteers to learn how to play the most popular gambling game of America’s Wild West heritage. Just be sure to watch your cards carefully; Faro was infamous for cheating dealers and ours are no exception! Play your cards right and you might just walk away with a commemorative America250 Arizona Faro chip in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary on July 4th, 2026.Demonstrations are scheduled every Sunday except for March 29 and May 31, 2026. This activity is free with paid park admission.
Thank you to our Faro volunteers: George Howison (1st/3rd Sundays) and Steve Kokx (2nd/4th Sundays). Please note that Faro demonstrations are for educational purposes only; betting of real money is not permitted. America250 Arizona faro chips are available while supplies last.
This event is part of Outdoors250, a celebration of America’s 250th anniversary and Arizona’s natural heritage. By participating in this event, you can enter to win Outdoors250 prizes by signing up at AZStateParks.com/Outdoors250.
Faro History
This card-based gambling game was played in almost every single gambling hall across the American West for roughly 90 years of our country’s history. Faro was so popular that it could be played in 150 places in Washington D.C. during the American Civil War. As the country expanded westward, people brought their love of Faro with them. In 1882, as construction began on what would become Tombstone Courthouse State Historic Park, a study by the New York Police Gazette estimated that Faro was more popular than all other forms of gambling combined. Here in the historic town of Tombstone, Arizona, where the Wild West lives on, Faro could be found in just about every saloon, great or small. Soon after arriving in Tombstone, frontier lawman Wyatt Earp dealt Faro for a short time at the Oriental Saloon.
Where is it happening?
223 Toughnut St., Tombstone, AZ, United States
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