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An MBTA shell game
By adamg on Sun, 06/09/2013 - 10:46pm
No, this has nothing to do with Big Dig financing or fare increases. Derek watched an actual shell game in action at Back Bay station tonight. He reports:
This is the first time I've seen a crew working the shell game on the MBTA. The crew suckered one woman, now they're working on a guy. He's not buying it, tho. Not yet at least.
Can three-card monte be far behind?
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Comments
Always thought of it as a NY
Always thought of it as a NY thing
Well, New York scammers are
Well, New York scammers are just a $15 Chinatown bus ride from Bo--never mind.
I've seen games on the Common for 30 years
Off and on.
Amazes me that people fall for it but it's fun to watch.
Can the MBTA police do their jobs?
Scam/hustling/illegal gambling, take your pick. I thought we just spent a bazillion dollars on a massive video surveillance system...
SEE SOMETHING DO NOTHING
Did anyone call the police? Back Bay track 5 is a haven for drug dealers and don't let your kids use the rest rooms which are filled with predators.
Back Bay Restrooms
There's nothing quite like walking in and seeing a (probably homeless) man masturbating in the middle of the restroom.
Disgusting, disgusting place.
This one time
I was walking through Central Square in Cambridge, and these dudes were doing the shell game thing. They called me over, and my dude naive teenage self walked on over. I started dominating that game, to the point where everyone got quiet, and the dude moving the cups got increasingly frustrated. Finally he stops mid-game and asks me, "Wait...How old are you?" I was 17 at the time. He then was like, "Oh you're too young for this man. You gotta go." I laughed and walked off. Good times.
Curious
I thought the whole thing about the shell game (done correctly) is that it's basically a trick - and you can't "dominate" the game because the pea or whatever "disappears" and there isn't a pea under any of the shells - how did you dominate the game?
Finding the Pea with the Pea Brain
He was able to locate the pea by taking advantage of the highly evolved pea brain that many 17-year-olds have.
I keed, I keed.
Um, yeah. It's a scam. You
Um, yeah. It's a scam. You can't "dominate" unless they let you. Previous poster is lucky they decided he was too young before it became time to up the stakes and tighten the screws.
You win
You win this game by picking up both of the shells on the ends and saying "It'd better be under the middle one."
He was a shill
A lot of times, you can let someone who's betting small amounts act as a stand-in shill just to hook a bigger fish using them as bait. The bigger fish will see the kid playing and say "well if he can win every time, this guy probably is easy to follow" and come to put down $50 to win big. The result is the operator suddenly becomes a pro at hiding the pea and uses sleight-of-hand to force the pea under the shell the big fish didn't bet on to take his $50.
There are endless variations to this, but basically it involves some gambler's fallacy and basic magic skills to pull it off well and rake in dough. You can always have the rest of the shills who are actually with the operator intimidate anyone who might figure out a way to win big and just mug them for their winnings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_game
And what happens if you do
And what happens if you do win, but the guy refuses to pay you?
You're not going to get rich on the back of a cardboard box.
Oh, and also...
WORLD-CLASS, BABY!!!
also curious
Never having noticed this myself, how much money is involved in these games? Seems like a lot of time and manpower for ten bucks or whatever people might bet on the spur of the moment.
Double or nothing
I believe the technique is to start small and then keep going double or nothing. Exponential returns.
Candy from a baby
I watched this hustle in the Patriots parking lot prior to a game last year. The guy pretended to be drunk but when money was on the table he was good. Made $100 in the 10 minutes I watched him. Its a big lot with alot of drunk people.
That's impressive. I'd have
That's impressive. I'd have guessed it would take a lot more time per dollar.
photo
Trackside betting on the T?
Sully?
That looks like Sully in the red hat and beater.
This calls for regulation
If they were required to use clear plastic cups then much of the cheating would stop. ;-)