Va banque

A game of Faro in the 18th century

Va banque or Vabanque is a gambling term from the card game of Pharo or Faro, which was popular in the 18th and 19th century. It is similar to the decision to "go bank" (or "banco") in chemin de fer, a form of baccarat. It means that a player bets equal to the current amount of money in the game's "bank". Vabanque is generally a risky choice in that the player puts everything at stake, he or she is "all in", and can lose everything, or gain an equal amount.

Va banque became a particularly noted expression due to its uses in a reported dialogue between Adolf Hitler and Hermann Göring as the Polish crisis reached its peak before World War II. Göring urged Hitler not to go too far with his gamble of playing off the English against the Poles, to which Hitler replied that throughout his life he had always played vabanque.^[1]

References

1. Fest, Joachim C.; Winston, Richard (trans) and Winston, Clara (trans). Hitler New York: Vantage Press, 1975. p.609 ISBN 0-394-72023-7