{"id":26561,"date":"2021-02-13T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-13T23:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/?p=26561"},"modified":"2021-02-12T03:56:57","modified_gmt":"2021-02-12T09:56:57","slug":"reworking-old-con-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/blog\/reworking-old-con-games\/","title":{"rendered":"R. Paul Wilson On: Reworking Old Con Games"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Con games<\/a> evolve over time and can be adapted to new circumstances, cultural shifts or technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this\narticle, I\u2019m going to show how an old \u201cset-up\u201d scam can be adapted, modernised\nand varied depending on the skill and audacity of the con artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is at\nleast a two-person con game, but I\u2019ve heard of set-ups where everyone is in on\nit except the mark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve also\nheard of single-o (one person) set-ups played by scammers on large groups where\nthe hustler actually gets some of the marks to back up his claim\/story! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m going to describe two versions of the same scam to show how an outdated swindle can be polished off and re-worked by modern hustlers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Miracle Purse Con<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Originally\nknown as \u201cThe Lucky Pocketbook\u201d, this was a clever bit of chicanery used to\nseparate drunks and gamblers from their money about a hundred years ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a simple\ncon game with a relatively easy method but it ensnares its victims by forcing\nthem into the role of would-be con artists in a less than fair (or honest) bet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It begins after a game of poker<\/a> or an evening at the bar when one of the party says his farewells and leaves the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon, another\nplayer (or drinker) notices that he has left behind a small purse and tells the\nothers he will soon be back when he realises it\u2019s missing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He tells\neveryone: \u201cThat\u2019s his lucky charm, he never plays a hand of cards without that\non the table. Inside is a penny from the year he was born.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure enough,\nwhen someone checks, they find a penny from 1880 (or whenever) and much fun is\nhad at the expense of their absent companion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few minutes\nlater, the owner of the purse returns, slightly panicked but instantly relieved\nwhen he sees his lost property waiting for him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Excusing\nhimself to the group, he reclaims the purse but before he can leave again, one\nof the group asks what is so valuable inside the purse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Coin\"
Image: Joshua Hoehne\/Unsplash<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At this point,\nhe sheepishly confesses that it\u2019s nothing more than a lucky penny from 1880,\nthe year he was born but the group aren\u2019t satisfied and ask to see the coin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before he can\nopen the purse, however, his secret partner stops him and sews the seeds of\ntheir impending con game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWait a\nminute,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere were no\npennies struck in 1880. I used to collect coins and I remember that was one of\nthe years they never made any pennies due to the copper shortage. There\u2019s no\nway that penny is from 1880.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAre you\ncalling me a liar?\u201d replies the purse owner, and the scene is set for the hook\nto be cast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll I\u2019m\nsaying is that you\u2019re mistaken. In fact, I\u2019ll bet a hundred dollars that that\npenny isn\u2019t from 1880.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hundred-dollar\nbill hits the table and the group laughs, but the owner of the purse turns on\nthem, brandishing his little purse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll take\nthat bet and any other that says this isn\u2019t from 1880!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where\nthe two con artists manipulate the crowd by tempering their performance\naccording to the reaction of their marks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If no one\nbites quickly (though they almost always did) they might heat things up and\nstart arguing, accusing and threatening until everyone throws down their money\njust to teach the purse-owner a lesson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the bets\nare on the table, the indignant owner of the little leather purse tosses it to\none of the marks to verify it contains a coin dated 1880.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally the\nmark opening the purse is more than certain that the coin inside will have\nanother date and when he reads \u201c1880\u201d on the coin, the sucker is utterly\ndumbstruck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the coin\nis passed around, the winner collects his cash, demands the return of his lucky\npenny and storms off, never to return. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, his\npartner plays the part of a good loser and cools-off the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If tempers flare, the remaining con artist<\/a> might even accuse the person who replaced the original penny of not checking the coin<\/em> he replaced it with!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Short Con<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Wallet\"
Image: Emil Kalibradov\/Unsplash<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This might not\nbreak the mark\u2019s bank or make the con artists a fortune but it\u2019s a simple\nenough ruse that once fleeced thousands of victims without too much harm or\ngreat loss, but the amount made was probably worthwhile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some cases,\nit might even have been used to set up the marks for a bigger con in the\nfuture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short cons like this are less common today but having pulled so many on The Real Hustle<\/a>,<\/em> I\u2019m always astounded at how well they work once potential victims buy into the story they\u2019re being told.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about\nthe situation: a slightly drunk player who may have been winning all night\n(this might have been a lucrative \u201ctopper\u201d for low-level card hustlers after\nskimming a game for hours) leaves behind the opportunity for the group to have\nsome fun at his expense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This then\nbecomes an opportunity to teach him a lesson when the first bet is made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the purse\nowner has to do is switch the purse with the coin they replaced with a\nduplicate, identical purse containing another 1880 penny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This might\nhave been a feat of sleight of hand but in most cases, it was simply switched\ninside the hustler\u2019s pocket before his partner asked what was in the purse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real skill\nwas in how the suckers were manipulated; how con artists played this was a\nmatter of experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And whenever a\ngroup of marks are on the verge of taking the bait, it can be all too easy to\nmake them \u201ctip\u201d and play the room like a cheap violin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Modern Twist<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"1
Image: NeONBRAND\/Unsplash<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As simple as\nthis con is, it has many variants and one of those variations is really quite\nbrilliant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This version\nwas played around the 1980s by a friend – J.N. – who used it to cover losses in\ncollege poker games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his\nversion, he left his wallet on the floor, which his partner would find before\nspinning a similar yarn about a lucky two-dollar bill <\/em>that J.N. carried\nevery time he played poker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just like in\nthe old version of the scam, J.N.\u2019s partner would convince someone to replace\nthe two-dollar bill with two singles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When J.N.\nreturned, the same scene would play out with one notable difference: only after\nJ.N.\u2019s partner asked about the two-dollar bill did J.N. reveal that his\nbirthday was included in the serial number on that bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same bet\nwould be made, J.N. would work the crowd until everyone was in the pot and then\nhe\u2019d pull back a flap on the inside of the wallet and pull out a second two-dollar\nbill with the correct serial number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

J.N. would\nmake a passing comment that he had another<\/em> two-dollar bill that he found\na few days ago but act confused when it wasn\u2019t in his wallet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

J.N. explained\nto me that the purse and penny seemed a little outdated and felt it might\nattract suspicion, while his wallet seemed perfectly natural in this scenario. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flap inside\nthe wallet was originally designed to conceal large bills and was the perfect\nhiding place for a single two-dollar bill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since two-dollar\nbills are so rare, the second (decoy) bill in the main compartment would be\nquickly found and replaced by the sucker without suspecting there might be\nanother hidden in the wallet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This solved\ntwo problems for J.N. and his partner: he didn\u2019t need to switch anything and\nthe cool-off was automatic because there was no mystery to be explained after\nJ.N. left with everyone\u2019s money!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What this\nillustrates (again) is that seemingly outdated con games can be dusted off,\nreshaped, adapted and reworked for a new generation of suckers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All it takes\nis a little ingenuity and talent for deception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More articles by R. Paul Wilson include:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
R. Paul Wilson On: How Hustlers Get You With Lies<\/a><\/blockquote>