BIRIBI

biribi, or cavagnole, a french game of chance, prohibited by law since 1837. it is 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. in the french army "to be sent to biribi" is a cant term for being sent to the disciplinary battalion in algeria.