Basset (card Game) - Basset in France

Basset in France

Basset was first introduced into France by Signior Justiniani, ambassador of Venice, in 1674. The game was very popular at the court of King Charles II, and even after 15 January 1691 when Louis XIV issued an order from the privy council, by which he expressly forbade not only the officers belonging to his array, but likewise all other persons of whatever sex or denomination to play at Hoca, Pharaoh, Barbacole and Basset. The sums of money lost in France at this game were so considerable that the nobility were in danger of being undone after many persons of distinction were ruined. Later the law against gambling was tightened eluding which they disguised Basset under the name of "pour and contre", that is, "for and against".

By the constitution of Basset, large advantages were secured to the tailleur, that is, literally, the dealer, or keeper of the bank, and so vast were his gains, that the privilege of keeping a bank at Basset, where the stakes were unlimited, was granted only to cadets or other members of great families, it being certain that a considerable fortune must be realised by the tailleur in a short time. The advantages of the dealer arise in many ways, but mainly from the temptations held out by the rules of the game to induce adventurous players to increase their stakes on certain desperate chances, which rarely turn up, and which in the long run told largely in favour of the bank. Where licenses were otherwise conceded for keeping a public Basset table in France, the stakes were strictly limited to twelve pence.