Ridotto
Encyclopedia
'Il Ridotto' is a wing of Venice's San Moisè Palace
. In 1638 it was converted at the behest of Venice's city leaders into a government-owned gambling house
. Importantly, Il Ridotto was the site of the West's first public, legal mercantile casino
.
As for games, Il Ridotto is known to have offered biribi
and basetta. Biribi was a lottery-like game in which players placed bets on one of 70 possible outcomes. A casino employee, the "banker," would then draw a number from a bag, and anyone who had bet on that number would win the game's pot. The game featured a built-in vigorish
whereby a winning player only collected 64 times his original bet; considering that every outcome in the game had only roughly a 1 percent chance of winning any given bet, this meant that the house at Il Ridotto enjoyed nearly a 10 percent vigorish on the game.
The most popular game at Il Ridotto, however, was basetta. This game was a cross between blackjack, poker and gin rummy and offered winning players 60 times their wagers in payout. In later years it was replaced by faro, which would gain even greater popularity in the U.S.
San Moisè
The Chiesa di San Moisè is a church in Venice, northern Italy. It is dedicated to Moses as, like the Byzantines, the Venetians tended to canonise Old Testament prophets. It also honours Moisè Venier, who paid for it to be rebuilt in the 9th century. The elaborate Baroque facade is covered in...
. In 1638 it was converted at the behest of Venice's city leaders into a government-owned gambling house
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
. Importantly, Il Ridotto was the site of the West's first public, legal mercantile casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
.
Etymology and usage
The term "ridotto" (plural: "ridotti") comes from the Italian word "riddure," meaning to "close off" or "make private." It originally referred to several illegal, privately owned gambling clubs that offered games of chance to members of Venice's nobility in the city's Rialto District. These clubs came into being after the Venetian authorities attempted to ban games of chance that had spontaneously sprung up in the city's streets. Realizing it could not effectively prevent citizens from wagering on dice and card games, the Great Council of Venice opened its "Ridotto" in 1638 on the occasion of the city's annual Spring Carnival.Casino Era
According to the casino's original charter, access to Il Ridotto was open to the public. However, due to the its high stakes and formal dress code, only nobles could afford to play at the casino's tables; one such discriminating injunction, for instance, was that players had to wear three-cornered hats and masks in order to participate in Il Ridotto's games; less affluent Venetians were thereby prohibited from making wagers at the casino's tables.As for games, Il Ridotto is known to have offered biribi
Biribi
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 numbersthey wish to back...
and basetta. Biribi was a lottery-like game in which players placed bets on one of 70 possible outcomes. A casino employee, the "banker," would then draw a number from a bag, and anyone who had bet on that number would win the game's pot. The game featured a built-in vigorish
Vigorish
Vigorish, or simply the vig, also known as juice or the take, is the amount charged by a bookmaker, or bookie, for his services. In the United States it also means the interest on a shark's loan. The term is Yiddish slang originating from the Russian word for winnings, выигрыш vyigrysh...
whereby a winning player only collected 64 times his original bet; considering that every outcome in the game had only roughly a 1 percent chance of winning any given bet, this meant that the house at Il Ridotto enjoyed nearly a 10 percent vigorish on the game.
The most popular game at Il Ridotto, however, was basetta. This game was a cross between blackjack, poker and gin rummy and offered winning players 60 times their wagers in payout. In later years it was replaced by faro, which would gain even greater popularity in the U.S.