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And they beg you for more

The book "Gambling Scams" by Darwin Ortiz was an interesting read in many ways. This 1984 book first explains various ways of cheating with cards or dice in both private games and casino games, from both inside and outside. Since I am not a gambling man and don't even know when to hold them and when to fold them, the lessons that I learned in this book were only for entertainment purposes. It was interesting to learn what kind of tricks and scams the human mind can come up with when money is involved, and the multitude of things that can be done to seemingly simple objects such as cards and dice.

However, by far the most interesting chapter was the one that explained how the carny game of razzle works. This is one truly beautiful scam of greed, escalating commitment and applied mathematics so that the mark is kept playing with various carrots and sticks that are gradually revealed only after the mark has been reeled in, all the time thinking that he is winning. Every eventuality has been considered, and the seemingly innocent carny signs hanging at the joint all turn out to have some more nefarious purpose.

The next chapter then discusses how three card monte is played, especially the way the gang of shills plays together and is ready for every eventuality to ensure that the mark will not leave with his money, no matter what happens. You might think that since the very term "three card monte" is already synonymous with the word "scam" in the English language, people wouldn't play it, but there is a sucker born every minute. Perhaps there is some kind of "meta-monte" going on so that the real con is not the one the mark thinks that he is seeing and thus being able to beat.

1 comment

Three card monte operators cover all the bases when it comes to making money. They sometimes employ pickpockets to work the crowds watching the games.

Peter
Iron Rails & Iron Weights

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