Biribi
Encyclopedia
Biribi, or cavagnole, a French
game
of chance similar to Lotto, Lottery, played for low stakes, that prohibited by law in 1837. It was played on a board on which the numbers 1 to 70 are marked. The players put their stakes on the numbers
they wish to back. The banker is provided with a bag from which he draws a case containing a ticket, the tickets corresponding with the numbers on the board. The banker calls out the number, and the player who has backed it receives sixty-four times his stake; the other stakes go to the banker. Casanova played it in Genoa (illegally, it was already banned there) and the South of France in the 1760s and describes it as 'a regular cheats' game'. He broke the bank (fairly, he claims) and was immediately rumored to have been in collusion with the bag-holder; such collusion presumably was common.
In the French army "to be sent to Biribi" was a cant
term for being sent to the disciplinary battalion in Algeria
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
game
Game
A game is structured playing, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more often an expression of aesthetic or ideological elements...
of chance similar to Lotto, Lottery, played for low stakes, that prohibited by law in 1837. It was played on a board on which the numbers 1 to 70 are marked. The players put their stakes on the numbers
they wish to back. The banker is provided with a bag from which he draws a case containing a ticket, the tickets corresponding with the numbers on the board. The banker calls out the number, and the player who has backed it receives sixty-four times his stake; the other stakes go to the banker. Casanova played it in Genoa (illegally, it was already banned there) and the South of France in the 1760s and describes it as 'a regular cheats' game'. He broke the bank (fairly, he claims) and was immediately rumored to have been in collusion with the bag-holder; such collusion presumably was common.
In the French army "to be sent to Biribi" was a cant
Cant (language)
A Cant is the jargon or argot of a group, often implying its use to exclude or mislead people outside the group.-Derivation in Celtic linguistics:...
term for being sent to the disciplinary battalion in Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
.