# 3 card monty & other scams **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 26, 2001, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144 "2001-08-26T02:08:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/1 "2001-08-26T02:08:40Z")
Being always facsinated by scams and duping the walking dead, I began wondering about the ever popular card game: 3 card Monty.(or Monte?) Why is it called that? Is it named in honor of a an early day sidewalk huckster? Also, anyone have any Scam books of interest? Two of my favorites: \*Catch me if you can \* (the author’s name escapes me) about a man who started conning early on to get the girls and hot car and ends up riding free on the airlines posing as a pilot. \*Great hoaxes, swindles, scandals, cons, stings and scams \* by Joyce Madison (1992) It’s a little dated, but give the basis of Ponzi’s scam. ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/2 "2001-08-26T02:13:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > \*Catch me if you can \* (the author’s name escapes me) about a man who started conning early on to get the girls and hot car and ends up riding free on the airlines posing as a pilot. Frank Abagnale, Jr. No other than [Steven Spielberg](http://corona.bc.ca/films/details/catchmeifyoucan.html) is considering directing the adaptation. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/3 "2001-08-26T02:35:46Z")
How coool, this book ( and audio tape) which was read by moi years ago, has left an indelible print on this young would be (if I only had the cojones) con artist. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/4 "2001-08-26T02:36:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Montfort \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Shirley Ujest \* > > \*Catch me if you can \* (the author’s name escapes me) about a man who started conning early on to get the girls and hot car and ends up riding free on the airlines posing as a pilot. > > Frank Abagnale, Jr. > > No other than [Steven Spielberg](http://corona.bc.ca/films/details/catchmeifyoucan.html) is considering directing the adaptation. \*\* Hey, I actually met Frank about 8 years ago. He came to my company for a training seminar, and stayed around afterwards to shoot the breeze. Very, very charming,likable fellow. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/5 "2001-08-26T02:39:22Z")
I can’t give you the answers for which you are searching, but this will have to do. From _Mathews_ three-card monte, a gambling game in which three cards, previously identified, are dexterously thrown face down on the table to deceive the players, who bet upon the position of one of them. **1854** Parker in Weiss _Life T. Parker_ II. 134 Three-card-monte men, and gambling-house keepers. [worldwidewords](http://www.worldwidewords.org/articles/easypick.htm) is a wonderful site by Michael Quinion. He discusses cheats and card tricks in this particular column and touches on three card monte. I think this will be of much interest to you **Shirley** ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/6 "2001-08-26T03:23:58Z")
Harry Anderson (from _Night Court_) wrote a nice book on scams and carny tricks. Not too long on analysis, but he covers a lot of ground. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/7 "2001-08-26T03:32:04Z")
Many decent mid-level card magic books have a section on dealing three-card monte; my favorite is one by Darwin Ortiz entitled _Darwin Ortiz at the Card Table_. One interesting thing that he points out is that the effect works much better with cards that have an all-over back design and no border (particularly [Bee](http://cardshark.magic.xs2.net/images/readers/beeback.gif) cards) rather than standard [Bicycle](http://www.djmcadam.com/images/bicycleback01.JPG) cards. For this reason, cigar shops and drugstores in areas where hustlers tend to congregate try their best to stock Bee cards, and frequently sell out of them. Dr. J ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/8 "2001-08-26T03:45:25Z")
From _How Stuff Works_: [Shell game and three card monte](http://www.howstuffworks.com/first-time.htm?referer=question590.htm) ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/9 "2001-08-26T12:03:58Z")
> [@](#): > > Also, anyone have any Scam books of interest? On a slightly more ambitious scale than three-card-monte, there’s David W. Maurer’s _The Big Con_ from 1940. Very recognisably the basis for _The Sting_, it’s about cons of that sort, though much of what he has to say about the psychology and the culture is relevant to the smaller stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/10 "2001-08-26T12:22:59Z")
Here we go from my American Heritage dictionary of 1971 in a definition of monte. “Spanish, “mountain,” referring to the pile of unplayed cards, from Latin _mons_” I thought as much, but for different reasons. I thought mountain to convey a sense of impossibility but nope. It actually appears to be a variation of an earlier game as it says “monte - a game of Spanish origin in which each player bets that one of two cards will be matched by the dealer before the other one. Also called ‘monte bank’” That one actually sounds kind of exciting. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/11 "2001-08-26T12:47:17Z")
The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary gives Monte (or Monty) as a Spanish game of chance played with a pack of 45 cards. It further defines Three Card Monte as a game of Mexican origin played with three cards only, of which one is usually a court card. In the UK this game is known as Find The Lady, where one card is always a queen. **Jinxie** ’s reference to ‘monte bank’ is reminiscent of ‘mountebank’. This term was originally used to describe a vendor of quack medicines who attracts a crowd by his tricks and antics, hence any charlatan or self-advertising pretender. The dictionary does not connect ‘monte bank’ with ‘mountebank’ but the similarity is striking. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/12 "2001-08-26T18:15:57Z")
Maurer’s _The Big Con_ is, of course, the classic work on the subject, but if you’re looking more for short con stuff you might try _Sting Shift_ by Smith and Walstad. ---
**Author:** ![JFMichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/aeb1de/32.png) [@JFMichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JFMichael)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/13 "2001-08-26T22:30:20Z")
[http://www.geocities.com/king\_grifter/](http://www.geocities.com/king_grifter/) may also be of interest. ---
**Author:** ![CzechHistory411](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@CzechHistory411](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CzechHistory411)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/3-card-monty-other-scams/78144/14 "2001-08-27T02:59:52Z")
Sifakis, Carl. _Hoaxes and Scams: A Compendium of Deceptions, Ruses and Swindles_, Facts on File, New York, 1993.